TODIES IN 



A.Clutton-Brock 




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Book. - \j <J <J - 



C0P«?IGIIT DEPOSm 



STUDIES IN GARDENING 



STUDIES 
IN GARDENING 



BY 
A. CLUTTON-BROCK 



WITH PEEFACE AND NOTES 
BY 

MRS. FRANCIS KING 

AUTHOR OF "the WELL-CONSIDERED GARDEN' 



NEW YORK 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

1916 



^^tl^ 



Copyright, 1916, bt 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



Published November, 1916 



Publication in the United States 
authorized by the London Times 

/ 

NOV 151916 




'Gi,A446378 



PREFACE 

The title of this book does not belie its contents. 
Within these covers lies matter for the consideration 
of those who think about gardening as well as for those 
who see and practice it. Unlike other gardening books 
in its light-hearted choice of topics it is also unhke them 
in its high charm of manner, in a certain urbanity to 
which we confess ourselves unaccustomed. Never was 
a lighter pen than this, never such a pen so well-di- 
rected. For gardening, and more especially the appre- 
ciation of the art of garden design, are matters upon 
which much light needs to be thrown for the amateur in 
this country. Certain chapters of "Studies in Garden- 
ing" should be read before every progressive garden 
club in America; the two on "The Theory of Garden 
Design," "Common Sense in Gardening," "The Right 
Use of Annuals," "The Problem of the Herbaceous 
Border," "The House and the Garden," and that 
portion of the Introduction entitled "The Planning 
of the Garden." And what delectable learning is 
stored in these pages ! 

The tribute of tributes is most surely paid to a 
book one has been asked to annotate when the would- 
be critical reader becomes so absorbed in its pages as 
to forget the critical attitude. So entirely is "Studies 
in Gardening" what a book on gardening should be. 



vi PREFACE 

so entirely is it what no other has yet been, that to 
keep from overpraise is difficult. There may be, there 
will be those to whom a few matters of individual 
taste in these pages may not commend themselves. 
This would be always so, whoever wrote, whoever 
read. The point to be noticed is this: the taste of 
the author of "Studies in Gardening" is with rare 
exceptions based on principles and, therefore, cannot 
but be sound. 

When one reflects upon the lack of knowledge of 
the principles of gardening among our own amateurs 
one feels more keenly the need of such a leaven as 
this book affords. General enlightenment on the great 
subject is our instant want; more study of the broader 
aspects of the gardening art, enlivening this of course 
by constant excursions into the lovely realm of flower, 
shrub, and tree, matters of garden enclosure and gar- 
den decoration. 

It will be noticed that among the plant subjects 
considered in the present volume there are some not 
to be recommended for our Northern States for reasons 
of soil and climate. It has seemed wise to leave these 
names unchanged, adding on occasion an explanatory 
note. Many of these plants flourish in our Northern 
Pacific States as in England, and of certain parts of 
the South and Southwest the same may be said. The 
difference in climate with regard to time of bloom 
of plants dealt with here makes the suggestion fittmg 
that the reader allow a date one month later for the 
latitude of Boston. This opinion is based upon care- 



PREFACE vii 

ful notes, kept for many years and constantly com- 
pared with like notes in English journals. I wish 
we might impress upon the American gardener (and 
by gardener I mean of course the amateur) the fact 
that the good English book carries as much value 
for him as for the Englishman. It is easy to learn 
the distinctions between English climate, English 
soils and the soils and climate of this country; and 
while good sense compels us to believe in the use of 
those subjects known to be suited to our country, our 
own estates or bits of ground, we must still look across 
seas for most of our finer garden books, and in so 
looking, we invariably find fresh and excellent ma- 
terial for our beds and borders. 

Many unfamiliar names occur in the course of the 
book. It chances that nineteen varieties of Dianthus 
are brought into the dissertation on Pinks. I ven- 
ture to think most of these unloiown to the average 
gardener, but why should he not add them to his 
present knowledge of the genus ? Bailey lists twenty- 
six ! Nurserymen will respond to calls for these 
things. Here is a little foot-hill of horticulture which 
any one may climb if he will. Let us not level it by 
means of notes, but rather urge the ambitious gar- 
dener to ascend the slope and there achieve a view so 
fair, so satisfying, that he will wonder that he thought 
the climb a heavy or laborious thing. 

And how accustomed are we in America, those of 
us who garden, to being written down to ! How sel- 
dom in our young literature of gardening may we 



viii PREFACE 

gather the grateful inference of a little practical knowl- 
edge on our part and a bit of taste to boot ! We need 
books to lift us, not to continually presuppose our 
ignorance. We need books to stimulate our search 
for garden learning, to send us hunting meanings of 
names new to us. America is passing from her gar- 
dening infancy to her gardening youth. This youth, 
filled with the romance and beauty of the newly dis- 
covered art, is ready for the best in garden writing. 
Wherefore a book like this is thrice welcome. Its 
writer has that wide outlook upon the subject denied 
to all but few. The book has a virility seldom en- 
countered in writings of this character. It shows a 
large practical and personal acquaintance with plants, 
and an equally wide knowledge of the principles of 
fine gardening. Joined to these qualities a love of 
beauty shines through every page, a charming humour 
will out upon occasion, and an entirely delightful 
English style enwraps the whole. American gar- 
dening cannot but be richer, finer, for every reader 
of this book. "It is" exclaims a correspondent lately, 
"the Englishman at his highest and best. Hear these 
words: *But a single flowering shrub rightly placed 
in front of a dark barrier of greenery has your eye 
to itself and satisfies it, like an altar piece in a quiet 
church.' Can we forget a sentence like that? I have 
seldom read a book with an intenser pleasure." 

The chapters of this book appeared in the form of 
letters to the Times (London). The subjects seem to 
have been taken at random, for in three instances 



PREFACE ix 

only are the articles explicitly related to each other. 
It has seemed well therefore to allow the order of 
chapters to stand as in the English edition. 

Grateful acknowledgment is here made for val- 
uable help given by Mr. Hubert M. Canning and Mr. 
Wilbur F. Dubois; also by Dr. Alfred Rehder of 
the Arnold Arboretum to whom I owe the note on 

Cytisus. 

Louisa Yeoman s King. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction xiii 

Banks and slopes in gardens 3 

The names of flowers 15 

Gardening in heavy soils 25 

Campanulas 36 

The cultivation of alpine plants 48 

colxjmbines 60 

April notes in the garden 70 

Pinks 81 

The improvement of garden flowers 92 

Cheap gardening 102 

Common sense in gardening 113 

Lilies 125 

The theory of garden design. I 139 

" " " " " n ....... 147 

Some details of summer gardening 156 

The right use of annuals 165 

Late summer and autumn in the rock garden . . . 174 

xi 



xii CONTENTS 

PAQB 

The problem of the herbaceous border 183 

The treatment of bulbs 192 

English ideals of gardening 201 

The north side of the rock garden 211 

Gardeners 220 

The house and the garden 229 

The right use of flowering shrubs ...... 237 

The associations of flowers. I 246 

n 255 

Bulbs for spring planting 264 

Raising perennials from seed 273 

The beauty and character of flowers 283 

Saxifrages 293 

The fifty best hardy perennials 304 

The fifty best rock plants 315 

Index 327 



INTRODUCTION 

This book contains articles upon both the theory 
and the practice of gardening. There is no need to 
speak of the practical articles in this introduction; 
but it may be as well to say something about the 
general principles upon which the theoretical articles 
are based. Those principles are concerned mainly 
with the planning of gardens and with the character 
of the flowers that should be planted in them. The 
writer is in favour of the formal planning of gardens, 
and in this introduction he proposes to give some 
general reasons for his preference. But he cannot 
deny himself the pleasure of a rock garden, although 
he knows that a rock garden cannot well be worked 
into any formal design. In this matter he sins with 
many excellent gardeners, who are not likely to give 
up their rock gardens from any artistic scruple. Rock 
gardens exist, and more of them are made every year. 
In some respects they have had a good effect upon 
other kinds of gardening. We must therefore make 
the best of them. This introduction, then, will deal 
with rock gardens, and will attempt to show, first, 
what is the secret of their delight, and, secondly, how 
they can best be placed and planned so as to spoil 
the design of a formal garden as little as possible. 

xiii 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

The third matter to be dealt with is the character of 
garden flowers; and this is more controversial even 
than the first two. The writer's remarks on this sub- 
ject have already provoked some controversy and met 
with more agreement. He repeats them here because 
they are based upon the general principles which he 
has tried to express in all his theoretical articles, and 
because they still seem to him as true as when he 
first wrote them. But we will begin first with the 
most important matter, and that is — 

The Planning of Gardens 

Nothing in gardening is so diflScult as the planning 
of a garden; and it is peculiarly difficult now, because 
we are still in the midst of a revolution, a return to 
nature, which has upset all the old ideas and conven- 
tions of garden design both good and bad. This re- 
turn to nature has done much good in destroying 
some of the worst fashions of fifty years ago. It has 
taught us to love plants for their natural beauty and 
to grow them so that their natural beauty may be 
shown to the best advantage. It has, indeed, revived 
the whole art of horticulture, which in the gardens of 
the rich had shrunk, a generation or two ago, into the 
cultivation of a few dull bedding plants under the 
most unnatural conditions. But it has not taught us, 
nor can it teach us, the art of garden design. For a 
garden is, and always must be, something quite dif- 
ferent from a wild paradise of flowers, and no art can 
turn it into one. Flower borders are artificial things. 



INTRODUCTION xv 

and so are lawns and gravel paths. If we are to follow 
nature in the design of our gardens we must do with- 
out these, and even the wildest of wild gardeners will 
scarcely go so far as that. We should remember that 
the discredited landscape gardening of the last cen- 
tury, with its "specimen" conifers, its irrelevant 
shrubberies, and its aimlessly circuitous paths, was 
itself an attempt to imitate nature. We are sick of 
it now, not, as many suppose, because it was un- 
natural, but because it was ugly; and it is an interest- 
ing fact that William Morris, writing so far back as 
the end of the seventies, attacked landscape garden- 
ing, not for its artificiality, but for its lack of order 
and design. He, with all his love of wild beauty, of 
woods and meadows, said that a garden should "by 
no means imitate either the wilfulness or the wildness 
of nature, but should look like a thing never to be seen 
except near a house." He knew that no work of art 
should put on the airs of nature; that, as houses ought 
not to be built to look like caves, so gardens ought 
not to be designed to look like flowery meadows or 
stretches of woodland. The beauty of nature is one 
thing; the beauty of art another. Each has its own 
romance, its own peculiar appeal to our memories 
and affections; and these different appeals cannot be 
combined in one. 

The love of gardens has always been so deep in 
Englishmen that it survived even when their love of 
all other beautiful things seemed for a while to be 
dead; and, when they built the ugliest houses, they 



XVI INTRODUCTION 

wished to forget the ugliness of them in their gardens. 
Thus it was that landscape gardening came into fash- 
ion. It was an attempt to ignore the existence of the 
house. Shrubberies were grown to hide it as best they 
could, and paths twisted about in a vain reluctance 
to approach it. But when men built beautiful houses 
they had no desire for landscape or for any kind of 
wild gardening. They were proud of their handiwork, 
and did not look to nature or any pretence of nature 
to conceal it from them. The garden was as much a 
part of their conquest of nature as the house itself; 
and, like the house, they designed it to be expressive 
of the will and the purposes of man. So the house 
and the garden were all part of one design, of which 
the house was the centre, giving a purpose and mean- 
ing to the whole; and this idea that the house shall 
dominate and explain the garden is the principle upon 
which all formal gardening is based, whereas all wild 
gardening is based upon a despair of the house and 
a desire to ignore it. 

Now that we are beginning to build beautiful houses 
again, we are beginning also to design formal gardens 
to suit them; but even those of us who must needs 
live in ugly houses will do well to make the best of 
them, as Morris advised. For, after all, even the 
ugliest house cannot be ignored by those who live in 
it; and no skill can really make a garden look like a 
flowery Alpine meadow or a stretch of woodland. In- 
deed, the uglier the house the more incongruous must 
be the most plausible imitation of nature, whereas a 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

garden of ordered beauty will do much to raitigate 
the ugliness of any house. 

But, if we make up our minds for a formal garden, 
we must understand clearly what are the proper limits 
of its formality; and, in the first place, we must know 
that a formal garden does not mean formal flowers. 
The landscape gardeners tried to imitate nature in 
their design, and to depart from nature as far as they 
could in their horticulture. The good formal gar- 
dener will forget nature altogether when he plans, 
but when he comes to choose his flowers he will re- 
member that nature is a better designer of plants 
than any gardener, though gardeners may sometimes 
improve upon nature's designs in detail, and to suit 
their own purposes. The English idea of a pleasure 
garden has always been a garden of flowers. We love 
flowers by instinct, and the return to nature in gar- 
dening got all its force, not from our desire for a new 
kind of design, but from our desire to see once more 
a natural abundance and variety of flowers in our 
gardens. It is therefore the task of the designer to 
provide this abundance and variety within the limits 
of his design. In this respect he will try to outdo 
nature rather than to ignore her, and he will be eager 
to learn any lessons that she can teach him. He will 
place his beds and borders according to a pattern in 
his own mind, about which nature can teach him 
little or nothing; but, when he comes to plant them, 
he will know that nature can teach him a great deal; 
for wild flowers, in the course of the struggle for life. 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

have acquired a natural fitness of combination and 
arrangement, which art may improve with its greater 
variety of material, but should not ignore. It used 
to be the delight of gardeners to ignore this natural 
fitness. As Ruskin remarked, they would tear house- 
leeks from their roofs and plant them round their 
beds. It was their practice to seize on the abnormal- 
ities of nature and make them the rule in the garden, 
although such abnormalities are usually the result of 
adaptation to peculiar conditions and look utterly 
out of place except in those conditions. Most Cacti, 
for instance, are desert plants, and may have a beauty 
of their own when they grow among rocks and sand. 
They have none at all in a flower-bed. The return to 
nature has taught us to see the absurdity of carpet 
bedding and all such misuses of natural materials. 
It has quickened our sense of the fitness of things, 
so that the best gardeners now delight in growing 
plants in conditions that will show off their beauty to 
the best advantage. It is the business of formal gar- 
dening, as of every other art, to do this; to make its 
own design, and at the same time to obey the laws of 
its material — that is to say, to use its material so 
that its characteristic beauty may be displayed to the 
best advantage. 

To combine these two things, formal beauty of de- 
sign and a right use of material, is the main difficulty 
of every art, and it is peculiarly difficult in gardening. 
There is always a strong naturalistic tendency in the 
gardener who loves his plants, as in the landscape 



INTRODUCTION xix 

painter who loves the country, or the dramatist who 
loves men and women. The mention of this nat- 
urahstic tendency makes one think at once of 

The Rock Garden, 

which is the most signal instance of it in modern gar- 
dening. It must be confessed at once that rock gar- 
dening, as we all practise it, is inconsistent with all 
the ideas that have produced formal gardening, and 
aims at a different kind of pleasure from that which 
the formal garden gives. A formal garden is a place 
to live in, whenever our climate allows; but no one 
would think of living in a rock garden. There are no 
flat spaces of lawn in it or shady retreats. It is all 
up and down, and, except for a few narrow and wind- 
ing paths, all made up of rocks and flowers and shrubs. 
No one except the rock gardener himself ever stays 
in it for long. For others it is a sight to be seen, per- 
haps with interest, perhaps with a polite show of in- 
terest. If it is very large, very boldly built, and very 
skilfully cultivated it may possibly have some slight 
resemblance to an Alpine hollow or slope; but usually 
it has none at all, and betrays itself at once as a con- 
trivance for the cultivation of certain plants that will 
not thrive or will not display their full beauty except 
in certain special conditions. It is, in fact, a place 
made for the sake of the plants which are grown in 
it, whereas the plants in a formal garden are but orna- 
ments to the general design of the garden. 

So, if you are a formal gardener on principle, you 



XX INTRODUCTION 

cannot defend the rock garden on the same principle; 
and we may say at once that, if it were possible to 
have only one kind of garden, the formal garden would 
be the kind to choose. But luckily that is not so; many 
different kinds of gardening are possible, and many 
different kinds of pleasure are to be got from them. 
The pleasure of the formal garden is the most uni- 
versal, the most sure, and the most lasting. Any one 
who knows nothing at all of plants or horticulture 
can enjoy a formal garden; and if it changes hands 
its beauty can be easily maintained, since there is a 
routine of formal gardening which most professional 
gardeners understand. On the other hand, you must 
have a peculiar interest and delight in plants for their 
own sake if you are to take a real pleasure in a rock 
garden; while the knowledge necessary for the proper 
cultivation of a rock garden is not usually possessed 
by professional gardeners, so that when a rock garden 
changes hands and loses the care and skill of its orig- 
inal possessor it is apt to run wild and become a mere 
confusion of coarse-growing plants. But these objec- 
tions to the rock garden are the very reasons why the 
true rock gardener takes a peculiar delight in it; and 
it is a curious fact that every gardener with a real 
love of his art tends sooner or later to become a rock 
gardener and to take a greater pleasure in his rock 
plants than in any others. This may seem both wrong 
and incomprehensible to those who are not gardeners; 
but they must remember that the gardener not only 
takes a pleasure in his flowers when they are grown. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

he also takes a pleasure in growing them; and there is 
more pleasure to be got from growing Alpine plants 
than any others. This is not merely because they are 
difficult, although in every kind of art and craft there 
is always a pleasure in overcoming difficulties; it is 
also because Alpine plants have a pecuHar kind of 
beauty which appeals to the lover of flowers more 
than the beauty of any other kind of plants. 

Alpine plants, as every one knows, have adapted 
themselves to certain abnormal circumstances. They 
grow in high wind-swept places, often in deep fissures 
of rock with but little soil, where they enjoy but a 
short spring and summer, and where they endure for 
a great part of the year the most extreme cold. In 
one way they are the hardiest of all plants; but in 
another they are the most delicate. For in adapting 
themselves to their life among the snows they have 
lost much of the power which other plants possess of 
adaptation to other conditions. And this applies not 
only to their health, but also to their beauty. If it 
were possible to grow the higher and more difficult 
Alpine plants in an ordinary border, they would look 
quite insignificant among the coarser plants of the 
lowlands. Even those easier rock plants which will 
grow readily enough in the border lose a great part 
of their beauty there, for their home is the rocks, and 
they seem to have been designed by nature as orna- 
ments for the rocks alone. Still, we are used to seeing 
many of them in the border and find them beautiful 
enough there. No one, however, could think of the 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

higher Alpines, the Androsaces, the smaller Pinks and 
Primulas, the little encrusted Saxifrages, or the most 
delicate Campanulas as anything except mountain 
plants; so much do they seem made for their moun- 
tain home that one could almost believe they would 
bring a vision of it to any one who knew them only in 
captivity; and yet a great part of their beauty comes 
from the contrast between its delicacy "so still and 
faint and fearing to be looked upon" and the wild, 
fierce places in which they grow by nature. But that 
delicacy is very far from the hectic delicacy of tropical 
flowers. The higher Alpine plants grow and flower 
for but a short time of the year, but in that time their 
life is eager and quick in proportion to its shortness. 
When the warm spring wind blows and the snows 
melt they turn from brown to green in a week. Their 
buds swell so that you can almost see them swelling; 
and their flowers have a peculiar brightness that seems 
to tell of the abundance of life packed into so small 
a compass and enjoyed for so short a season. There is 
nothmg in nature so full of wonder and delight as an 
Alpine sprmg. It is the very symbol of all sudden 
happy changes, the chief theme of mountain folk- 
song and mountain music; and it is not strange that, 
as we go to hear the songs of Grieg in a London con- 
cert-room, so we should wish to see some of the magic 
of that spring in our lowland gardens. Therefore the 
rock gardener contrives his little makebelieve. He 
cannot hope that his small rocks and slopes and val- 
leys will in themselves have any look of the Alps; but 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

they will at any rate serve as a frame not incongruous 
to the beauty of his Alpine flowers. And his pleasure 
in rock gardening is enhanced by the fact that the 
nearer he gets to a natural arrangement of his rocks 
the more likely are his plants to thrive among them. 

This kind of natural arrangement is not easy to 
contrive, and will never come by chance. When peo- 
ple first began to make rockeries they seem to have 
had some dim idea of imitating chaos. They bought 
loads of clinkers, certainly the most chaotic objects 
ever produced either by nature or art, and they shot 
them down in confused heaps in parts of the garden 
most unfavourable to plant life. Among these heaps 
they planted Ferns and Stonecrops and London 
pride. Some of these perhaps contrived to live, and 
did in time conceal some of the desolation of the 
clinkers; but their survival was a credit to them- 
selves rather than to those who put them there. When, 
however, rockeries first began to be thought of as 
places for the cultivation of rock plants, there was a 
violent reaction from this imitation of chaos. Every 
plant was provided with a square enclosure of stones 
and a large zinc label, so that even if the plant died, 
which it often did, it might not lack a monument. 
This was formal gardeniag reduced to an absurdity; 
and those who really loved the beauty of Alpine plants 
and were eager to grow them soon began to see that 
the mere proximity of a rock would not cure an Al- 
pine plant of its home sickness. They set to work to 
discover what benefit the plant got from its native 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

rocks, and they saw that it was protected by those 
rocks from extremes both of heat and cold, of drought 
and moisture. They saw, too, that it could get that 
protection only from rocks arranged in certain natural 
ways; and therefore they set to work to imitate such 
arrangements in their own rock gardens. So the 
building of rocks became an art and also one of the 
chief pleasures of rock gardening. It is difficult to 
convey to any one who has never tried it how great 
that pleasure can be, and how it increases with experi- 
ence. There is no one fixed principle of rock build- 
ing, since natural arrangements of rocks are infinitely 
diverse, and different plants have adapted them- 
selves to their diversities. But this fact is what makes 
the pleasure of the game. The beginner, if he is wise, 
will build upon a fixed principle. He will arrange 
most of his rocks so that they run into the ground at 
an angle of about 45 deg. with the earth's surface, and 
so protect the roots of the plants below them from 
both heat and cold. But as his knowledge increases 
he will get more of the variety of nature into his build- 
ing, and put his rocks together so that they provide 
homes exactly suitable for the more difficult plants 
which he wishes to grow. He will come to look upon 
his rockwork as a kind of puzzle to be fitted together 
so that every interstice will have some peculiar charm 
for some particular plant; and it will be his delight 
to find a plant perfectly suited to each interstice. 
Needless to say, this is not a game that can be played 
in the ordinary flower border, where there is not much 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

variety of condition and where the plants are all con- 
tented, in reason, with what they get. Those who 
are quite ignorant of gardening may think a fine 
flower border more beautiful than any rockwork, and 
may wonder why any one should be at so much pains 
to produce an inferior kind of beauty. In answer to 
them it must be confessed that rock gardening is a 
kind of game which makes its own difficulties and 
gets its own pleasures out of them; yet the rock gar- 
dener will not admit that it produces an inferior kind 
of beauty, but rather a beauty more subtle and to be 
appreciated only by those who love plants and study 
their ways of growth. Plants, he will say, like all 
other kinds of life, get a great part of their beauty 
from their adaption to their surroundings, and the 
more exactly and narrowly they are adapted to their 
surroundings the greater that beauty will be; while 
plants that thrive anywhere can have but little of 
that kind of beauty. Their good nature makes them 
lose character. They are like men with whom you can 
do what you choose — useful but uninteresting. Of 
all plants the higher Alpines are most narrowly adapted 
to their surroundings; and of all plants they have 
the most character. Nature seems to have designed 
them more exactly than other flowers with a more 
unrelenting pressure of circumstances, so that they 
have a beauty of proportion not often found in the 
lowland plants that will adapt their growth to con- 
ditions so various. There is, we may suppose, an 
ideal proportion for every plant in all its parts. This 



xxvi INTRODUCTION 

ideal proportion is continually forced upon the higher 
Alpines by the severities of nature, but not upon plants 
that have a wider range and an easier life. But the 
peculiar beauty of Alpine plants must explain itself, 
if it is to be appreciated. You must be able to see 
from its surroundings how it has come to be what it 
is; and the rock gardener's art or game is to contrive 
those surroundings so that they shall tell their own 
story. He cannot do this so far as the elements are 
concerned. He cannot provide winds or snows, but 
he can provide rocks naturally disposed; and he must 
do all he can to provide sunshine and fresh air. It is 
all a game, perhaps; but it is one of the pleasantest 
and most innocent in the world; and since it is a 
game played with living things and against the caprices 
of the weather, there is no end to it, nor is there ever 
likely to be one. Some plants are easily enough grown 
to-day that were thought almost impossible twenty 
years ago; but still there are many, not only from the 
Alps, but from the Himalayas, the Pyrenees, and the 
Caucasus, that have not yet been tamed by any skill. 
Some of these may in time yield up their secret or 
grow content with our climate. Perhaps some day 
the blue glory of the Fairy Forget-me-not^ will come 
down from its mountain heights to shine on suburban 
rockeries. But that will not be in our time. For 
many years to come lonely triumphs will be possible 
to every rock gardener; and, indeed, one often sees 
some difficult plant better grown on a small rockery 

^ Myosotis palustris. L. Y. K. 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

than in the most sumptuous rock gardens. Rock gar- 
dens are to be found everywhere now. They are a 
part of the return to nature in gardening, and, like 
other things in that movement, they are sometimes 
carried to absurd lengths. But, in spite of this, with 
their ceaseless experiments and with the new sense 
they bring of the characteristic beauty of plants, they 
have done much good, not only to the craft of horti- 
culture, but, in an indirect way, to the art of flower 
arrangement. They are teaching gardeners not to play 
tricks with their plants, not to use them like chips in 
a mosaic. They have, at any rate, put an end to car- 
pet bedding except in certain public gardens where it 
is practised as an interesting survival. In the rock 
garden nature itself forces upon the gardener some con- 
gruity of arrangement. You cannot mix Hollyhocks 
with Androsaces; at least, if you do the Androsaces 
are pretty sure to die. And the gardener who gets 
a sense of congruity from his rockwork will carry it 
into other parts of his garden. It is not in the least 
inconsistent with formal design. Indeed, formal de- 
sign is quickly spoilt by any incongruity in the ar- 
rangement of plants; and the best formal borders have 
a natural look, with all their regularity. 

Still, with all that can be said for it, rock garden- 
ing remains a game for the true gardener, and no one 
should have a rock garden who does not intend to 
spend time and labour upon it himself. Professional 
gardeners are an excellent race of men; but most of 
them are made gardeners, not born, and rock gardens 



xxviii INTRODUCTION 

are usually incomprehensible whims to them. They 
can take a pride in a regiment of calceolarias, but not 
in a plant that dies if you pull it up by mistake for a 
weed and makes no show even when it thrives. There 
is some danger that rock gardens will become fashion- 
able; and already you will sometimes find strange ac- 
cumulations of stone in pretentious gardens which 
are, no doubt, meant to be rock gardens. Indeed, 
there is a story of a millionaire who built a rock gar- 
den all of concrete blocks so well fixed together that 
there was no room at all for plants to grow between 
them. But, if rock gardening does become fashion- 
able, it is not likely to remain so for long. A rock 
garden cannot be bought outright, like a diamond 
necklace, and kept without further trouble. It is 
nothing unless its owner loves it and understands it; 
but, if he does, then he can get as much pleasure out 
of it as out of any amusement provided by the bounty 
of nature and the ingenuity of man. 

This difficulty of the rock garden is only an extreme 
instance of the difficulties that must be always crop- 
ping up for every gardener who loves his plants and 
seeks to provide them with natural conditions, and 
who also aims at a formal beauty of design. At every 
point he will have to make some kind of sacrifice or 
compromise. But that is no reason why he should 
forgo formal beauty altogether. It is rather a reason 
why he should try to understand its principles clearly, 
so that he may know what is the best sacrifice or com- 
promise to make in each particular case. Unless he 



INTRODUCTION xxix 

accepts and understands the principles of formal 
beauty, he will have no principles to go on except 
principles of horticulture, which, however excellent 
they may be, will not help him to solve many of his 
most difficult problems, will not, for instance, tell 
him when to leave nature alone and when to subdue 
it to his own purposes. It is a main principle of formal 
gardening that a gardener may do anything he chooses 
with his materials to increase their use or beauty, 
but that he must not play tricks upon them merely 
to show how far he can pervert them from the course 
of nature. Thus, where a tree or shrub is grown for 
its own sake, to clip it is to spoil its natural beauty 
for no reason. But, when trees or shrubs are used to 
make a hedge, clipping increases their beauty as it 
increases their use. A hedge, properly used, is only 
a kind of living wall, and you can see at a glance that 
it is grown not for its own sake, but to serve as a wall. 
So, whatever treatment makes a better wall of it is 
justified; and the formal gardener will not try to con- 
ceal his living walls, but will make them play a part 
in the beauty of his design. He will see that they 
are of the finest materials — of yew, or box, or holly, 
not of privet or laurel; and he will clip them care- 
fully, so that they grow solid and even. Hedges of 
this kind, well grown and well placed, will serve as 
divisions of different parts of the garden, as shelters 
for the flowers, and also as frames to set off their 
beauty. Every one must feel the charm of well-kept 
yew hedges in an old garden, and the secret of that 



XXX INTRODUCTION 

charm is that in them nature is subdued to the happy 
purposes of man. She is always quiet within their en- 
closure, as the sea is quiet in a harbour; and they 
are a sign, wherever they are to be found, that order 
and peace and a delight in beautiful things have 
been long established there. This is the secret of the 
charm of formal gardens, and it is a charm that we 
cannot find in any flowery wilderness, still less in the 
most cunning imitation of one. 

So much for the planning of gardens. There re- 
mains to be considered. 

The Character of Garden Flowers, 

and in particular the principles upon which one should 
aim at their improvement. 

The art of improving or changing garden flowers is 
probably as old as the art of gardening itself. So 
soon as plants are cultivated many of them become 
liable to changes and developments of a kind which 
they seldom experience in a state of nature, because 
such changes and developments are of little or no use 
to them in the struggle for life. The gardener's pur- 
poses, however, are apt to be different from those of 
nature, and he makes a different use of that tendency 
to variation which exists in all plants. Wild plants 
in favourable conditions, for instance, often show a 
tendency to double their flowers; but that tendency 
seldom goes very far, since doubling is rather a hin- 
drance than a help to plants in the propagation of 
their species. It is a kind of excess that comes with 



INTRODUCTION 



XXXI 



prosperity, and is apt to be soon checked by the severe 
laws of life. To the gardener, however, it often seems 
an excess to be encouraged, and he encourages it by 
selection on a different principle from that of nature. 
He may also encourage an increase in the size of the 
flowers and a greater brightness or variety in their 
colour by the same means. Such changes or improve- 
ments have been practised from time immemorial, 
particularly in the East, so that the origin of some 
garden flowers, as, for instance, of several kinds of 
roses, is unknown to us. In the seventeenth century 
there was a great variety of florists' flowers, and partic- 
ularly of carnations, as we can tell from the illustra- 
tions to Parkinson's Paradisus. The Dutchmen had 
then developed Tulips and Hyacinths and Crocuses 
pretty much as we have them now; and most of 
them were far removed from the original natural 
species. But all these developments were produced 
by simple selection and cultivation. The principles 
of hybridization were not understood, and the process 
therefore could not be practised artificially. Now 
that these principles are understood and can be prac- 
tised, however empirically and imperfectly, our florists 
have an enormous advantage over their forefathers; 
and as their knowledge increases of the conditions 
most favourable to hybridization, that advantage will 
grow still greater. Already changes are being worked 
upon certain plants with wonderful speed. The Pansy, 
as we have it now, has been developed out of the little 
wild Pansy (Viola tricolor). The process began about 



xxxii INTRODUCTION 

1813, and by 1830 many varieties approaching the 
modern Pansy in size and colour and shade were al- 
ready in existence. But the Viola of gardens, or 
tufted Pansy, is a creation almost of our own time 
and a hybrid between the Pansy proper and the Al- 
pine Viola cornuta. Not much more than a genera- 
tion ago the Begonia was a plant with insignificant 
flowers and grown chiefly for its leaves. Now we 
have Begonias with flowers almost as large as Roses 
in a great variety of colours. Dahlias have changed 
the character of their flowers under our eyes. Won- 
derful things have been done, and are being done, with 
Larkspurs and Phloxes. There are innumerable new 
Daffodils, and they increase about every year in size 
and in brightness and diversity of colour; while there 
seems to be a promise of new races of Roses utterly 
surpassing any that we have now both in beauty and 
in vigour of habit. ^ 

But this new power will be attended with new 
dangers if it is not exercised with discretion; and 
already we can see what these dangers are. It is a 
delightful game to make new flowers, but it is not 
one that should be played wantonly or blindly. It 
is unfortunate that hybridization should be first prac- 
tised systematically in an age of very uncertain taste; 
for there is a danger lest irreparable harm may be done 

^ Certain species of roses recently discovered in China by E. H. Wilson 
have never been hybridized. When one considers that all the roses we now 
have are descended from four or five species it is not easy even to imagine 
the nmnber we may have after bringing in fifteen or twenty new species, 
crossing those with each other and with those we already know. L. Y. K. 



INTRODUCTION xxxiii 

to some of our finest flowers while every one is exult- 
ing over the improvement worked upon them. At 
present the florists seem to be working upon no sys- 
tem, because there is no general standard of taste to 
impose a system upon them. They believe that every 
increase in the size of a flower, every change in its 
colour, is an improvement; and they are often con- 
firmed in this behef by the awards of flower shows, 
which, in the provinces at least, are still inclined to 
favour flowers as little like nature as they can be. 
Flower shows, indeed, have not had a good effect upon 
the development of plants, however much they may 
have improved their culture, since their tendency 
has been to encourage gardeners to grow plants for 
their flowers alone. Now a plant intended to be an 
ornament to a garden ought to be considered as a 
whole. Its flowers are only a part of its beauty, and 
it should also have a beauty of leafage, of habit, and 
of proportion. The flowers of wild plants are often 
too small, at least to the gardener's taste, in propor- 
tion to their leafage and stature; but the flowers of 
garden plants may easily be too large; and in some 
cases the florists have already made them so. The 
modern Begonia, particularly the double Begonia, 
is an instance in point. The flowers are so enormous 
that all proportion is lost between them and the plant 
itself. It seems to be overburdened with them like 
a woman laden with heavy jewelry. There are other 
plants of a habit less prostrate by nature which bear 
the weight of huge flowers still more awkwardly. 



xxxiv INTRODUCTION 

There are Carnations and Dahlias and Hoses that 
look like weary Titans unless every flower head is 
supported with sticks. This defect is not seen in 
separate blossoms exhibited at a flower show; but it 
is glaring in a garden, and ought to banish them from 
all gardens. It is important that we should cultivate 
in ourselves and in our florists a nice sense of propor- 
tion in all the parts of a plant. No one can say ex- 
actly what is the limit of size beyond which the flowers 
of a particular plant ought not to be developed; but 
it is easy to see that every plant ought to carry its 
flowers with ease; and, besides this, the size of the 
plant itself, the nature of its habit, and the character 
of its leafage should be considered. A small creeping 
plant may usually have larger flowers than an erect 
plant of the same size, because it can carry them 
more easily; and indeed among mountain plants 
there are many with flowers very large for their size. 
Also, a plant with large leaves can endure larger 
flowers than a plant with small ones; and obviously 
a large plant can endure larger flowers than a small 
one. Yet this plain fact is often ignored by florists, 
who will dwarf a plant without decreasing the size 
of its flowers and so destroy the greater part of its 
beauty. The dwarf Snapdragon is a case in point, 
which looks as much a deformity as a human dwarf; 
and the dwarf Sweet-pea is not much better. 

The doubling of flowers is a part of the same ten- 
dency to grow plants for their flowers alone, which 
is often carried to excess. Most flowers are more 



INTRODUCTION xxxv 

beautiful single than double. But there are excep- 
tions; and a good many double flowers are, at any 
rate, more durable and stronger in colour than single 
ones of the same kind. It would be absurd to object 
to all double flowers on principle, as, for instance, to 
double Pinks or Roses or Dahlias; but even these 
may be easily made too double, so that they look 
stiff or puddingy; while there are other flowers of 
great natural beauty of form which are entirely spoilt 
by being doubled. Among these are nearly all bell- 
shaped flowers. Yet the florists are always producing 
double varieties of the beautiful Campanula persici- 
folia, in which all its grace of form is destroyed with- 
out any improvement in force of colour. To take 
other instances, the double Begonia looks as if it had 
been made by some one who had never seen a real 
flower. The extra petals of the double Day and 
Tiger Lilies look like mere growths of disease, and 
even the double China Asters are usually inferior in 
beauty to the single flowers of the old Aster sinensis, 
which has only lately come into our gardens again. 
It is almost safe to say that we have enough double 
flowers already, and it is quite certain that florists 
could do much more useful work in other ways than 
in doubling any more of them. 

The colour of flowers is more a matter of individual 
taste than their proportion or form; but even with 
regard to colour one cannot doubt that the florists 
sometimes make mistakes. There is the case of the 
perennial Larkspur, for instance. The glory of the 



xxxvi INTRODUCTION 

Larkspur is its blue colour. In no other genus of 
easily-grown garden plants is there such a range of 
blues combined with such purity; and the hybridists 
have already shown us what a race of Larkspurs might 
be produced if only they would give all their efforts 
to combining purity of colour with beauty of form. 
Unfortunately, it is very easy to obtain double Lark- 
spurs in which the form of the flowers is spoilt; and 
also to obtain Larkspurs tinged or freaked with mauve 
or plum colour. Now mauve is a good enough colour 
in its way; but we have plenty of mauve flowers. 
Also the combination of mauve with blue may have 
a sort of curious discordant beauty; but it is a beauty 
that one soon tires of; whereas pure blue, deep or 
pale, is a rare colour in our gardens and one that 
could never weary any one. No garden flower in 
existence is more beautiful than the Belladonna Lark- 
spur with its flowers of a silvery pale blue and no 
less perfect in form than in colour. But the Bella- 
donna is smaller and more weakly in constitution 
than the great hybrid Larkspurs. Already some of 
these almost rival it in colour, and they might in time 
surpass it. Already, too, there are some hybrids of 
a deeper blue almost as fierce as the colour of the 
Gentians, and these might be common soon, if the 
florists would set to work to produce only pure blue 
Larkspurs. But they have now produced so many 
with mixed colours that it becomes more difficult 
every year to raise pure blue Larkspurs from seed. 
The taint of mauve is deep in their blood, and it would 



INTRODUCTION xxxvii 

take some time to get rid of it even if every one tried. 
The Larkspur is a plant of so stately a habit that it 
would not be easy to make its flowers too large so 
long as they keep their purity of form. They have 
already been greatly enlarged, but the largest are 
often half double and parti-coloured, so that their 
size is only a thing to wonder at, not to admire. 

The Larkspur is the worst case that could be found 
of colour perversion in plants. Most other cases are 
more disputable. But many people who love strong 
wholesome colours cannot but think that our Roses 
are suffering in their colour from the popularity of 
Tea Roses and hybrid Teas. The colours of most 
Tea Roses are rather faint and exotic. Their delicacy 
is pleasing to a timid eye, and there is so much bad 
colour in our art now that most people's eyes have 
grown timid. But there is no need to have a timid 
eye for flowers. They are not dyed with cheap dyes, 
or woven of dull shoddy stuff. The brighter they are 
the better, particularly when they have the texture 
of Roses. We need more pure pink and deep crimson 
in our Roses, and not those pinks washed with yellow 
or those yellows dulled with brown that are so com- 
mon among the Teas. 

Roses are not plants of which the ordinary amateur 
can usually raise new varieties for himself. But there 
are some plants easily raised from seed and very va- 
riable, such as Larkspurs and Columbines and Ori- 
ental Poppies, upon which any amateur with room 
enough in his garden might try his hand. He can 



xxxviii INTRODUCTION 

hybridize for himself if he will take the trouble, and 
with the plants just mentioned it is quite easy to do; 
but in many cases nature will hybridize only too 
readily for him, so that he has but to save the seed 
of any variety that pleases him and to go on raising 
seedlings and pulling up all inferior ones until he gets 
plants that seem to approach his standard of perfec- 
tion. If this were done intelligently and systemat- 
ically by amateurs all over the country, there would 
soon be a vast improvement in our garden flowers; 
and no doubt the vagaries of the florists would be 
checked. They provide novelties because novelties 
are popular; and they work more or less at random 
because there is no certain taste to direct them. The 
remedy is in the hands of amateurs who in some cases 
can show what they want by producing it for them- 
selves, and in other cases can enforce a right standard 
by buying only plants which conform to that stand- 
ard. 

We are all too ready to think that every flower 
must be beautiful, whether produced by nature or 
by the florist; and we are ready to think that every 
kind of garden must be beautiful, if only it contains 
an abundance of flowers. The gardener should grow 
his flowers well — that goes without saying. But he 
should choose them upon clear and rational principles 
of taste, and he should plan the garden, of which 
they are to be the ornaments, upon the same prin- 
ciples. 



STUDIES IN GARDENING 



BANKS AND SLOPES IN GARDENS 

FEW people who have banks or steep slopes in 
their gardens know what to do with them. They 
cannot be turned into ordinary flower beds or borders, 
because with their sharp drainage they do not afford 
enough moisture to most plants in the summer; and, 
if they are covered with grass, the grass is difficult 
to mow. The usual plan is to plant them anyhow, 
with shrubs such as laurels, snowberry, or Berberis 
aquifolia, with a carpeting of ivy or the Rose of Sharon, 
and having planted them thus to leave them alone. 
Now, whatever may be said in favour of wild gar- 
dening in places where the garden can hardly be dis- 
tinguished from surrounding woodland or meadow, 
there is nothing to be said for it where it is merely 
the result of ignorance or indifference. Neglected 
banks of this kind are constantly to be found in hill- 
side gardens right in front of the house; and they 
have scarcely more wild beauty than a disorderly 
rubbish heap. In such places neglect and untidiness 
are as discomforting as about the house itself. Yet 
one often sees a house, neat and trim enough, with 
all its neatness and trimness spoilt by one of these 
unkempt wildernesses in front of it. Sometimes there 
will be an ailing pine or fir tree here and there on the 
bank, underneath which not even ivy will grow, and 

3 



4 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

beyond the shadow of these desolate conifers a stunted 
thicket of snowberry suckers and sometimes a stragghng 
bush of gorse^ or laurustinus; while the ground, if 
not entirely covered with ivy or Rose of Sharon, will 
be ornamented here and there with sickly clumps 
of heather or stray seedlings of the coarsest plants 
from other parts of the garden. A spectacle of this 
kind is so common, that, like the ugliness of most 
houses, it only fills us with a vague kind of discomfort. 
We, no more than the owners of the neglected bank, 
attempt to analyse what is wrong. We only feel 
that we should not like to live in a house with that 
kind of ugliness about it. 

Now it is unjust to condemn any system of gar^ 
dening wholesale because of its worst examples; but 
it is fair to point out that banks treated in this way 
are the result of the misapplication of the principles 
of landscape gardening to small gardens. For it is 
such landscape gardening that has made people in- 
different to trimness and neatness, or rather has 
given them an excuse for evading the trouble which 
is necessary to keep a garden neat and trim. The 
owners of such banks can always console themselves 
with the thought that there is no formality about 
them. But in most cases, no doubt, they make no 
conscious excuse for their neglect. Bad landscape 
gardening, the kind of gardening practised by the 

^ For Gorse the American gardener may read Forsythia or Spiraea: the 
Laurustinus is not hardy in the United States except on the Pacific 
Coast. L. Y. K. 



BANKS AND SLOPES IN GARDENS 5 

speculative builder, which naturally always follows 
the line of least resistance, is so universal in most 
suburbs, and even in many country places, that peo- 
ple take it as a matter of course, and never even 
ask themselves how their gardens could be bettered. 
Their eyes have been spoilt, as the eye is spoilt by 
machine-made ornament; and, even if they always 
feel a slight melancholy whenever they come in at 
the garden gate, they do not ask themselves the reason 
of it. If not actually contented, they are resigned 
to things as they are, just as they are resigned to the 
stamped iron ornaments on their fireplaces or the 
gouty legs of their billiard tables. 

And, yet, it is worth some trouble and thought to 
make a garden wear a smiling face, so that it will 
give pleasure, not only to its owner, but to every 
passer-by who gets a glimpse of it from the road; 
and we are all inclined to think well of the owner of 
a garden which does this, and to thank him for that 
pleasure. Nor are much trouble and thought, in 
most cases, necessary. It is very easy to make a steep 
bank beautiful with flowers and suitable shrubs, espe- 
cially if it slopes towards the south; and, being so 
easy, it is strange how seldom it is done, even by 
people who are ready to spend much labour and 
money upon other parts of their gardens. Indeed, 
one often sees the worst examples of neglected banks 
in gardens with large greenhouses and with gaudy 
displays of spring and summer bedding. But these 
are a matter of routine and custom. A steep bank is 



6 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

not supposed to be looked at, however conspicuous 
it may be. It is regarded as a mere nuisance in the 
garden; and, consequently, a nuisance and an eye- 
sore it remains. 

There are, of course, many people who will not have 
untidiness of any kind in their gardens, and whose 
banks are at least tidy. But they usually take a 
great deal of unnecessary trouble in keeping them 
so. Either they cover them with grass, or else they 
hide them with shrubs, probably laurels, which are 
carefully clipped quite level. Now, this is just as 
troublesome as grass, and much more irrational. 
There is no purpose or meaning whatever in a clipped 
shrubbery, particularly on a steep bank. It does not 
explain itself, like a hedge; and its only effect is to 
make the bank look a few feet higher. Laurels suffer 
more than most shrubs from being clipped, since 
their leaves are too large to make a close even texture 
like that of a clipped yew, and they are beautiful 
only when allowed to blossom and grow tall. There- 
fore, a clipped bank of laurel is an example of the 
worst kind of formal gardening, of formality in the 
treatment of plants, and not in design. There is no 
such formality in the proper treatment of a steep 
bank, and much less labour is required for it. 

No doubt the common neglect or misuse of steep 
banks and slopes has been caused by the belief that 
no plants of any value will grow upon them; and 
this belief arose at a time when our gardens were 
filled only with bedding plants, few of which, it must 



BANKS AND SLOPES IN GARDENS 7 

be admitted, will flourish upon a steep bank. But 
we are no longer dependent on bedding plants; and, 
as a matter of fact, there are many plants of extreme 
beauty, both in flower and in growth, which ask for 
nothing better than a steep bank, even with the 
lightest and sandiest soil, to grow upon. There are 
so many, indeed, that the gardener can exercise some 
choice among them; and he will be wise to cover his 
bank for the most part with plants or shrubs that are 
evergreen and of a creeping or lowly habit. A bank 
clothed thus will be interesting, and even beautiful, 
in the depth of winter, far more so than any border, 
and it will be full of blossom both in the spring and 
for a great part of the summer. The plants should 
be low growing, because steep banks are naturally 
suited to low-growing plants. Tall shrubs or plants 
look awkward and out of scale upon them, and find it 
difficult to get enough root hold to keep them firm 
against the wind or the wash of the rain. A bank 
that is to be planted should always be well dug, so 
that the roots of the plants may be able to strike deep 
with as little resistance as possible; and, if small 
rocks can be embedded here and there, they will be 
of great service to the plants in protecting them from 
drought, and also to the bank itself, in preventing the 
soil from washing away from it. If rocks are used, 
they should be driven downwards into the bank, as 
in ordinary rockwork, and a plant should be placed 
just below every rock, so that its roots may have 
the shelter of the rock. Of course the more rocks 



8 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

that are used on a bank, and the larger, the better. 
But elaborate rockwork means trouble and expense, 
and we are proposing to make a bank beautiful with- 
out much of either. Luckily there are many plants 
that will flourish upon a bank without any protection 
of rockwork, provided they do not suffer from drought 
when first planted. Planting, therefore, should be 
done in wet weather in early autumn, especially if 
the soil is very light. It should not be done, in any 
case, later than October, as many of the most suitable 
plants are apt to rot off in the winter if disturbed too 
late. 

There are no plants which thrive or look better on 
a bank than the stronger species of wild Pinks. They 
are evergreen and of a creeping habit. They will 
endure any amount of drought when once deeply 
rooted, and, though their flowering period is not very 
long, their leaves are beautiful at all seasons. The 
strongest of all is the common Dianthus plumarius, 
a species of which there are an infinite number of 
varieties, and which has produced many hybrids 
with other pinks, particularly with the Cheddar pink 
(Dianthus caesius). This is much smaller and slower 
in its growth and rather more delicate in constitution, 
but it will usually grow on a steep slope looking to 
the south without much trouble. Other very easily 
grown pinks in the driest places are D. arenarius and 
D. petraeus, the English D. deltoides (the maiden 
pink), D. fragrans (or the plant which usually goes 
by that name in gardens), and D. monspessulanus. 



BANKS AND SLOPES IN GARDENS 9 

All of these may be easily raised from seed, and that 
is far the best way of getting a large stock. Almost 
as valuable as the pinks is Aubrietia, of which there 
are many varieties, and which can be just as easily 
raised from seed. Aubrietia should always be planted 
or divided in early autumn, about the beginning of 
October, as, although one of the easiest of plants, it 
is apt to resent disturbance at other times. It is 
scarcely necessary to mention Arabis except to say 
that the double form lasts much longer than the single 
in flower and is even more vigorous. A taller growing 
plant, which combines beautifully with the purple 
of Aubrietia and the white of Arabis, is the yellow 
Alyssum saxatile. There is a dwarf form of this, 
very useful on banks, and also a dwarf variety with 
pale yellow flowers called A. saxatile citrinum. All 
of these can be raised from seed, and usually come 
true. Arenaria montana is a beautiful plant of the 
pink tribe which flowers soon after Aubrietia. It 
has white flowers, rather like those of the larger stitch- 
wort, and the same creeping habit. Of the same 
family, and a little later in flower, is Gypsophila repens, 
with its larger variety G. repens monstrosum; plants 
which will endure any amount of drought. The species 
is easily raised from seed, but the variety must be 
propagated by cuttings. Also of the pink family are 
Saponaria ocymoides and Silene maritima flore pleno; 
the Saponaria smothered in May with small pink 
flowers, and for many months afterwards; the Silene 
flowering rather later with large white blossoms that 



10 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

remind one of those of the pink, Mrs. Sinkins. The 
Saponaria can be raised from seed. The Silene, being 
double, cannot, but must be increased by division in 
early autumn or by cuttings. 

There are two kinds of thyme that are invaluable 
for the driest, steepest places — namely, the white 
and woolly varieties of the wild thyme (Thymus 
serpyllum alb us and T. lanuginosus). A little native 
plant as low in its growth is Astragalus hypoglottis, 
with its more beautiful white variety. This is the 
smallest of all the vetches. It is unfortunately not 
evergreen, like the Gypsophilas and Silene maritima, 
but otherwise is admirably suited for steep banks. 
A plant with beautiful silvery leaves and delicate white 
flowers which will endure any amount of drought is 
Tanacetum argenteum (formerly called Achillea), and 
this looks very well mixed with clumps of thrift, Ar- 
meria maritima, and especially with the richer coloured 
thrift known as A. laucheana. Both of these grow 
about 8 in. high and will afford a little variety to 
the perfectly prostrate plants. The Helianthemums 
(sun roses) are little low-growing bushes covered with 
white, pink, yellow, or red flowers. A variety with 
golden yellow flowers and glaucous leaves, some- 
times called H. croceum, makes a beautiful mixture 
with the common blue flowered Veronica teucrium; 
and this may also be mixed with the fine yellow vetch 
(Coronilla cappadocica), which should be carefully 
planted and not disturbed. Another Veronica less 
brilliant, but more delicate in its beauty, is V. pec- 
tinata, with both blue and pink flowers and downy 



BANKS AND SLOPES IN GARDENS 11 

leaves. The creeping Phloxes are not so patient of 
drought as the other plants here mentioned, but they 
will grow well on a bank if the soil is fairly rich, or if 
they are protected by a rock above them; and they 
are among the most brilliant and beautiful of our 
spring flowers. Nothing, in fact, can exceed the 
beauty of large tufts of Phlox Vivid and Phlox Nel- 
soni, with their mossy habit of growth and their sheets 
of pink and white flowers. 

There are some southern plants that do not thrive 
in the ordinary border, but flourish amazingly on 
very hot sandy banks looking full south. Among 
these are Calandrinia umbellata, a little plant of the 
purslane tribe, with flowers of the most brilliant crim- 
son magenta colour. This should be raised from seed, 
and it will usually seed itself freely every year. Cal- 
lirhoe involucrata is another plant of the same habits; 
it can be raised from seed to flower the same year, 
and is of rapid growth, spreading over a great space 
of ground. It flowers for a long time, and often dies 
after flowering; but this matters little, as it can be 
so easily reproduced. Several of the Aethionemas 
also will grow well on dry sunny banks, particularly 
A. grandiflorum, A. pulchellum, and A. coridifolium. 
These are true rock plants, near to candytuft, but 
with glaucous leaves and delicate pink flowers, and 
they are the better for a few small rocks about them. 
They should be planted in spring, or, if raised from 
spring-sown seed, as soon in the summer as they are 
fit to move. 

Many bulbs will thrive on a steep dry slope, partic- 



12 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

ularly the Squills and Chionodoxas, if planted deep, 
and there is no reason why there should not also be 
Crocuses, and even the dwarfer Tulips. Bulbs when 
they die down leave a bare space for most of the 
summer, and therefore it is well to carpet them with 
creeping plants that will not interfere with their 
growth. Nothing is so suitable for the purpose as 
several species of Stonecrop, in particular Sedum 
album, which will grow anywhere, and is beautiful 
in and out of flower. 

The surface of the bank may also be varied here 
and there with low-growing shrubs, and these are 
much better for the purpose than tall plants, as they 
do not look out of scale with the creeping plants 
about them. But the shrubs should be chosen with 
some care, and none of them should be of a straggling 
habit of growth, or of a kind likely to suffer from 
drought; for nothing is uglier in any part of the gar- 
den than a sickly shrub. Luckily there are a good 
many shrubs suitable for the purpose. The lowest 
growing of all are some of the prostrate Artemisias 
and brooms. Of the Artemisias, A. sericea is the best, 
covering the ground with a carpet of beautiful sil- 
very leaves and growing at a great pace. It is far 
more robust than most of the other creeping species. 
Among the brooms are Cytisus Ardoini, a very dwarf 
plant with yellow flowers, C. Kewensis, a hybrid also 
prostrate with paler flowers and rather larger in all 
its parts, C. Schipkaensis, a small and beautiful white 
flowered broom, the double form of the native Genista 



BANKS AND SLOPES IN GARDENS 13 

tinctoria, and also the native Genista pilosa. These 
are all very small shrubs growing naturally in the 
driest places. Most of the Cistuses are rather large 
for planting on banks; but Cistus florentinus, C. 
lusitanicus, and C. formosus are small enough and 
may be kept compact by cutting back. Olearia stel- 
lata (Eurybria gunniana) is the smallest of the Olearias 
and also may be cut back after flowering with ad- 
vantage. This and the Cistuses are flowering shrubs 
of the greatest beauty. There is also a dwarf form 
of Lavender very suitable for banks, and a prostrate 
form of the common Rosemary, a most beautiful and 
valuable shrub. Santolina incana and its smaller 
variety, incana nana, look their best on banks of the 
poorest soil, and should be cut down every two years 
or so in spring.^ 

All the plants and shrubs which we have mentioned 
will endure any amount of drought when established, 

^ Of the several species of Cytlsus mentioned here C. Schipkaensis may 
be found in Bailey's new Cyclopedia under Cytisus No. 2, C. leucanthus 
Schipkaensis. Cytisus florentinus is possibly a mistake for Genista florida, 
see under Genista No. 12; there is no Cytisus florentinus known in botan- 
ical literature. C. lusitanicus is apparently Genista lusitanica, see Genista, 
suppl. list. C. formosus is possibly Genista formosa which is Cytisus 
racemosus, see No. 16. C. pilosa is Genista pilosa, see No. 15. Only one 
of these species is offered in American trade catalogues, C. Schipkaensis. 
This and Genista pilosa are hardy in the latitude of Boston. The others 
could probably be grown only in California and the South. The same is 
true of Olearia stellata which is apparently not sold in the United States. 

The following may be suggested as American substitutes for the shrubs 
mentioned above: Cotoneasters in their evergreen dwarf forms, Berberis 
aquifolia, Ceanothus, Daphne, Evonymus radicans, especially var. vegeta. 
Rhododendron Wilsonianum punCtatum, Andromeda, Leucothoe, Hyperi- 
cum calycimum, Kalmia angustifolia, Lonicera halliana, Rosa wichuriana, 
and Xanthoriza. L. Y. K. 



14 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

and they all establish themselves very quickly. Many 
others might be named that are only a little more 
impatient of drought, and will grow well enough on 
a bank of good soil. But we have given enough to 
show that any bank may be made beautiful, however 
unpromising it may look, if once it is cleared of rub- 
bish. It is useless, however, to attempt to grow any- 
thing on a bank shaded with pine-trees or filled with 
straggling hungry shrubs. All these must be cleared 
away before anything can be done with it; and, 
when it is ready to be planted, the planting should 
be done with some taste and judgment, the plants 
being arranged in drifts or masses, each drift at its 
extremities being interwoven with a drift of another 
species. The shrubs also should be massed here and 
there in places where they will seem to grow most 
naturally, and not aimlessly dotted about. By these 
means many a bank which is now a mere eyesore 
might be made the most interesting and beautiful 
part of the garden, with very little trouble or ex- 
pense. 



THE NAMES OF FLOWERS 

PEOPLE who are not gardeners often complain 
that the names of unfamiKar flowers are apt to 
be ugly, inappropriate, and difficult to remember. 
A beautiful pink trumpet-shaped blossom catches 
their eye and they ask you the name of it. When 
you tell them Incarvillea Delavayi, they are not 
satisfied.^ They demand an English name, a name 
appropriate to its beauties, and one that will call 
them to mind by its mere look and sound; a name, 
in fact, like daffodil or honeysuckle. They forget, 
or they do not know, that all flowers, even those 
which have the prettiest fancy names, have also 
busmess names for purposes of identification, which 
are often no prettier and no more significant than 
Incarvillea Delavayi itself. Honeysuckle, for in- 
stance, when botanists talk about it, becomes Loni- 
cera. The buttercup is Ranunculus acris and the 
daisy Bellis perennis. Now honeysuckle was prob- 
ably called honeysuckle in England long before it 
got the name of Lonicera; but newly discovered 
plants do not carry pretty names on collars round 
their necks. Names have to be invented for them for 
purposes of identification; names, too, that will serve 

* A new fern at the Holland House Show (London), July, 1916, is thus chris- 
tened: Polystichum angulare divisilobum plumosum Perry's No. 1. L. Y. K. 

15 



16 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

for every language; and so the person who christens 
a new plant, whether the discoverer or another, does 
not usually tax his fancy much in doing so. Some- 
times he does supply it with a compound descriptive 
word from the Greek, as in the case of the Chionodoxa, 
which may, perhaps, in time come to be known as 
Glory of the Snow or Snow-glory. But he is apt in 
naming it to pay a compliment to some botanical 
friend or to commemorate his own achievement; 
and thus we get names like Brugmansia and Bou- 
gainvillea, and Tschichatchewia, names which seem 
to hang like millstones round the necks of their un- 
fortunate owners. But even these seem worse than 
they are to our insular prejudice. No doubt Tschi- 
chatchewia sounds quite simple and pretty to a Pole; 
and we cannot expect all new plants to bear English- 
sounding names, unless Englishmen discover them all. 
Besides, the remedy is in our own hands. Our fathers 
invented English names for the flowers they knew, 
and we must do the same for the flowers that were 
unknown to them, if we dislike the names the botan- 
ists give them. Until we have done that, we must 
be content to call a Brugmansia a Brugmansia (or 
rather a Datura, for that is its present title), however 
diflScult we find it to "tongue" the word. In fact it 
would be well, perhaps, if all new flowers were named 
after Poles, so that the difficulty of remembering, 
spelling, and pronouncing them might act as a spur 
to the vernacular invention. But, unfortunately, the 
vernacular invention seems nowadays to be so slug- 



THE NAMES OF FLOWERS 17 

gish that nothing will stimulate it. Eschscholtzia is a 
word that no one surely would use if he could 
help it; and yet Eschscholtzias have been known so 
long that they seem quite old-fashioned flowers; and 
no one, so far as we know, has even attempted to 
find a name for them with less than six consonants in 
a row. The Fuchsia, the Dahlia, and the Wistaria 
are even more familiar, but they remain still com- 
memorative of Messrs. Fuchs, Dahl, and Wistar; 
and the nearest we have got towards Anglicizing them 
is to mispronounce them. 

No doubt the chief reason why we do not find Eng- 
lish names for our new flowers is that we are under 
no absolute compulsion to do so. They have their 
botanical names when we first know them, and so 
we put up with them as a stopgap. Then by use and 
wont we come to forget that they are stopgaps; and 
in time Dahlia seems just as fit and proper a name 
for one plant as Daffodil for another. But, even if 
English names are invented for new plants, the com- 
petition of the botanical name makes it diflScult for 
them to get currency. For it must be remembered 
that the botanical name is universal, and in most 
cases puts the identity of a plant beyond all doubt, 
whereas some even of our oldest popular names, such 
as Gillyflower, Fair Maids of France, and Bachelor's 
Buttons, are applied to two or more quite different 
plants. Also the botanical name identifies the species, 
which the popular name often fails to do. Thus, if 
you order a certain plant from a nurseryman, and in 



18 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

doing so call it Zauschneria Californica, the nursery- 
man will know at once what you mean; whereas, if 
you call it California Fuchsia, or humming-bird flower, 
two praiseworthy attempts at an English name, he 
is pretty sure not to take your meaning. The object 
of botanical names is scientific precision, which they 
certainly provide; and so where scientific precision is 
needed they are usually indispensable. But, for all 
that, the want of beautiful English names to many 
beautiful flowers seems a reproach to their beauty, 
and to stamp them as aliens and not true citizens of 
our gardens. And the question is. How are we to find 
beautiful English names for them.^^ The multitude 
of modern discoveries would make it difficult to keep 
pace with them, even if we tried; and we certainly 
do not try very hard. But it must be remembered 
that the beautiful old names probably took hundreds 
of years to grow, like other words. They were some- 
times corruptions of French and Latin names, the 
corruption no doubt maintaining itself because of 
some appropriate beauty in its sound or some sug- 
gestion of a new meaning. Gillyflower, for instance, 
is said to have been derived from Caryophyllus, 
Dianthus caryophyllus being the specific name of 
the carnation, or rather of the pink, from which the 
carnation has been developed. Gillyflower is a pretty- 
sounding word, but it has no particular meaning. 
In the seventeenth century, however, an attempt 
was made to corrupt the name further into July- 
flower because the carnation flowers in July. But 



THE NAMES OF FLOWERS 19 

this corruption, for some reason or other, did not 
stick. The modern name carnation is said to have 
been originally only an adjective applied to certain 
Gillyflowers, although Parkinson uses it as an alter- 
native to Gillyflowers, or, as he calls them, gillo- 
flowers. No doubt it has ousted Gillyflower because 
that name was applied to other plants, as, for instance. 
Wallflowers (which still keep it). Stocks, Rockets, 
and African Marigolds. The most beautiful names 
of flowers have grown like folk-songs or ballad poetry; 
and there is a kind of natural and unconscious poetry 
in them full of the delight which generations of men 
have taken in the flowers themselves. But sometimes 
the same flower will have two different names, one 
poetic and one expressing the Anglo-Saxon liking for 
nicknames. Thus Love in a Mist has also the name 
of Devil in a Bush, and Bleeding Heart (Dicentra) 
is, or used to be, called Dutchman's Breeches. 

We cannot expect to make beautiful names for 
new flowers off-hand; in such matters the invention 
of individuals will never equal the invention of genera- 
tions, nor can it hope to get an immediate currency, 
especially with the competition of botanical names. 
Still, it is desirable that some effort should be made 
to find English names for our newer flowers, and to 
use them when found; for there is a danger that we 
shall grow too content with the botanical names, 
and apply them even to flowers which have beautiful 
and well-established English names of their own. 
Already many good old names have fallen out of use 



20 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

and others seem to be going. There is, for instance, 
a growing tendency to call perennial Larkspurs Delphi- 
niums; and the name Columbine, beautiful alike in 
sound and sense, and one that can be used without 
any fear of ambiguity, is giving way to Aquilegia. 
Most people now say Sedum instead of Stonecrop, 
even in the case of the species to which the English 
name can be given with perfect propriety, and many 
call Snapdragons Antirrhinums. Often, of course, a 
particular species can be indicated only by the bo- 
tanical name; but that is no reason for using the 
botanical name where the English name can be used 
without fear of error. If one wished, for instance, to 
speak of Antirrhinum asarina, one would have to 
call it by that name; but Snapdragon will serve for 
Antirrhinum ma jus, indeed, it is a more exact term 
than the generic name of Antirrhinum. 

The rage for Latin names has gone so far that you 
will now sometimes see Lilies called Liliums by people 
who write about them in the gardening papers. Their 
defence, no doubt, would be that some plants which 
do not belong to the lily genus are also called lilies; 
but since we have Primrose and the Rose of Sharon, 
this would be a reason for calling Roses Rosas; and 
it is to be hoped that we shall never come to that. 
But, since there is such a strong tendency towards 
the unnecessary use of botanical terms, it can be 
checked only by a conscious effort, and that effort 
ought to be made. A great deal could be done by 
writers both of gardening books and in the garden- 



THE NAMES OF FLOWERS 21 

ing papers if they would use English names as much 
as possible, giving the botanical name where there 
is any fear of ambiguity, and, even when the bo- 
tanical name is the one in general use, adding the 
English name, if one exists. By this means English 
names in common use might be maintained, some 
that have fallen out of use might be revived, and some 
newly invented for new flowers might gain currency. 
The nurserymen also might help, by always adding 
English names, where they exist, to the botanical 
names in their catalogues. Some of them already 
do this, and in some gardening books a praiseworthy 
effort is made to keep up the old English names, and 
even to introduce new ones. Mr. Robinson, for in- 
stance, in his "English Flower Garden," always 
gives an English name when he can, even to newly 
introduced plants and to different species; sometimes 
by the mere process of translation, which is often the 
only one possible. For instance, he calls Sempervivum 
arenarium the Sand Houseleek; and there is no reason 
whatever why it should not be generally known by 
that name, or why Arenaria montana should not be 
called Mountain Sandwort, or Tigridia the Tiger 
Flower. When entirely new names have to be in- 
vented, it is a more difficult matter. People are apt 
to be shy of using sentimental names, however pretty, 
unless they are quite familiar, like Forget-me-not; 
and it is difficult to find a descriptive name for a pretty 
flower without making it a little sentimental. Noth- 
ing could be prettier than the name "Angels' tears" 



22 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

for Narcissus triandrus albus, but it has not come 
into general use, although some writers have per- 
severed with it. No doubt it is too sentimental. 
Then there is Foam Flower for Tiarella cordifolia, an- 
other pretty name and quite appropriate, but again, 
perhaps, rather too sentimental. At any rate, it has 
not taken root. On the other hand, Rockspray for 
Cotoneaster is a name so descriptive and so well sound- 
ing that every one ought to use it; yet it is not used. 
Other descriptive or half-descriptive names fail from 
being too cumbrous. Thus we cannot expect that the 
name "twin-leaved lily of the valley" will stick to 
Maianthemum bifolium, even though the alternative 
is no less cumbrous. But it is no use being discouraged 
by the failure either of good names or of names less 
good. Only persistency in the use of them will give 
them a chance, and only by such persistency can it be 
proved whether or not they deserve to survive. Even 
a name too sentimental is better than a mere botan- 
ical term; and, if there is a general tendency to use 
English names, invention may be quickened, and in 
some cases alternative names may have to struggle 
for the mastery. In such a case we should have some 
approach to natural selection, the best possible means 
of obtaining good names. 

In many cases, however, what is required is not 
invention, but merely revival, and this ought to be 
far easier; for there are many old names now fallen 
out of use that ought to take the fancy of any one 
who hears them, as, for instance, Virgin's Bower and 



THE NAMES OF FLOWERS 23 

Lady's Bower for Clematis flammula and C. montana. 
Cardinal's Flower for Lobelia cardinalis, Goldilocks 
for Helichrysum, Lady's Laces for variegated grass. 
Pearls of Spain for the white Grape Hyacinth, and 
Rosaruby for the red Adonis. Many of these names 
should serve as models for new inventions, partic- 
ularly in the richness and appropriateness of their 
sound; for it is sound probably that keeps a name in 
common speech more than any other quality; and 
it is only through too much reading that people grow 
indifferent to the sound of words. Goldilocks and 
Rosaruby are a delight to the ear. They can only 
have fallen out of use because they belonged to flowers 
not much grown nowadays. As for Pearls of Spain, 
it is a delight both to the ear and to the mind, and 
worthy of one of the most exquisite of all spring 
flowers. 

Even in the naming of florists' varieties some fancy 
used to be exercised in the seventeenth century, 
particularly in the case of carnations. There were 
red Hulos, and Chrystallines, and Striped Savages, 
and Cambersines, and Lusty Gallants, and Pale 
Pageants, and Infantas, and Feathered Tawnies. 
And there is no reason why florists now should not 
show a little more spirit and invention in giving names 
to their novelties. Florists' varieties do not have 
botanical names; therefore, the florist has a free 
choice, and no excuse if his names are meaningless or 
ugly. Yet they are usually both. What is to be said 
for the name Blairii 2, given to an excellent old rose, 



24 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

or Gruss an Teplitz, given to an excellent new one? 
The habit of calling flowers after people is a very dull 
one and ought to be discouraged. All that can be said 
for it is that the names of people do not need to be 
translated. But this would apply also to classical 
names, which are far less used than they might be. 
Indeed, they are used scarcely at all. But, even if a 
pretty florists' name had to be translated it would 
not matter much, provided it was short and descrip- 
tive. Daffodils in this respect are better treated than 
roses; for instance, Lucifer is a good name for the 
glowing flower to which it is given; and Sunset is 
another. But there are some pretty names even 
among roses, as, for instance, Irish Glory and Irish 
Modesty for the beautiful Single Teas which have 
lately come from Ireland. Even humorous names 
are better than dull ones, and the gardener is to be 
commended who christened a new cucumber "Ten- 
der and True," when he might have called it Lord 
Kitchener or Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. 



GARDENING IN HEAVY SOILS 

THE problems of gardening in heavy soils are 
naturally quite different from those of gar- 
dening in light soils; for whereas the chief enemy of 
plants in light soils is drought and heat in summer, 
their chief enemy in heavy soils is damp and cold in 
winter. Climate is not the only condition which af- 
fects the hardiness of plants; soil has also to be con- 
sidered; and many plants that are hardy on a light 
sandy soil are not hardy on a stiff clay, although the 
climate may be no colder. The chief reason of this 
is that moisture on a stiff clay does not drain away 
quickly, but remains about the roots and even about 
the crowns of plants, so that the ground is very cold 
when it is frozen and, even when it is not frozen, is 
all through the winter so charged with damp that 
many plants are liable to rot off in it. It follows from 
this that drainage is the chief essential to success in 
a stiff soil; and it is necessary not merely to protect 
the plants from damp and cold, but also to make the 
ground fertile, for if the upper layer of the soil is 
charged with water, air cannot get into it, and with- 
out air those processes of decomposition which make 
soil fertile are impossible. 

No one, therefore, whose garden consists of stiff 
clay can hope to grow any but the coarsest and strong- 

25 



26 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

est plants in it without good drainage. And drainage 
is not a matter merely of carrying the water away, 
as it is carried away from the roof of a house; but 
rather of carrying it down far enough below the plants 
to prevent their suffering from it in cold and wet 
winters; for there may come a time, in hot and dry 
summers, when even in a stiff clay the plants will 
need all the moisture they can get. Indeed, plants 
suffer from a prolonged drought in a stiff clay as much 
as in light sandy soil, or even more, for the clay, if 
it is in a crude natural state, bakes and cracks, in 
some places pressing tightly round the roots of the 
plants, in others exposing them to the full heat of the 
sun. It follows, therefore, that it is not enough to 
drain the moisture away from the soil by means of 
pipes, even if that could be done in a soil which can 
be deprived of moisture only by the heat of the sun. 
What is needed is to change the nature of the soil it- 
self, so that moisture will have a free passage through 
it. Without such a change, even the use of drainage 
in the shape of broken bricks, rubble, &c., some feet 
below the surface is not a complete remedy, for the 
soil above will still hold a great deal of moisture if 
its consistency is not altered. The first step towards 
doing this is to break it up thoroughly by means of 
deep digging. Deep digging is necessary on a light 
soil, but it is even more necessary on a heavy one, 
for it is one of the chief means of introducing air into 
the ground and thus of making it fertile, and also of 
enabling the water to find a free passage through it. 



GARDENING IN HEAVY SOILS 27 

But the effects of deep digging upon a stiff clay are 
only transient, unless the clay is mixed with other 
matter which will prevent it from clogging with the 
damp and caking with the heat. It must be made 
porous by the addition of other more porous sub- 
stances which will both relieve it of moisture and 
add to its fertility. Of these the most valuable are 
rubble and humus — that is to say, soil consisting 
of decayed vegetable matter and, in particular, leaf 
mould. There are, of course, many kinds of rubble, 
but the best of all is mortar rubble, for not only is it 
very gritty, but it is also full of lime, which in itself 
is a most valuable form of plant food. Many people 
use cinders, and these certainly increase the porosity 
of the soil, but unfortunately they also impoverish 
it, as they contain no kind of nourishment whatever. 
Mortar rubble, therefore, should be used, if possible; 
and it may be very plentifully mixed with a stiff clay 
soil with the best results for all except the few plants, 
such as Rhododendrons and Azaleas, and Kalmias, 
to which lime is poison. Humus does not, of course, 
increase the porosity of the soil so much as rubble, 
but it does make it more porous and also warmer, 
and it is a most valuable and in a stiff clay an almost 
essential plant food. The rubble and the humus 
should be mixed together and dug well into the clay, 
so that the soil for 2 ft. at least is permeated with 
them. If further drainage is necessary it should con- 
sist of a foot or so of broken bricks, &c., the larger 
the better, about 23^2 ^t* below the surface of the 



28 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

soil. To prepare a border in this way entails a good 
deal of trouble and some expense, but when once it 
is done the border will need but little attention for 
some years and the plants will not need to be renewed 
constantly. 

It is only in a border so prepared that a great num- 
ber of plants can be satisfactorily grown on a stiff 
clay soil, and, further, it is only in such a border that 
farmyard manure can be employed so as to give the 
best results. Manure, of course, adds to the fertility 
of a heavy soil and also, to some extent, increases its 
porosity; but it is also apt to rot the roots of plants 
that come in contact with it in cold, wet weather, 
and to turn sour and breed noxious gases, while its 
juices can only be thoroughly distributed through 
clay when it is made porous. 

Of course, many people will not be at the trouble 
of preparing a border thus; but even so they may 
protect their plants from some of the dangers of damp 
and cold by thorough deep digging, and also by plac- 
ing some drainage below the roots of particular plants 
and surrounding these roots with humus and rubble. 
Thus they will be protected during the winter from 
the immediate contact of the clay. Many plants will 
thrive on a stiff clay, which would otherwise damp 
off in the winter, if they are planted in a border raised 
half a foot or a foot above the general level of the 
soil. Such a border is particularly useful for the 
culture of bulbs, such as Tulips and Daffodils, and of 
those low-growing plants which thrive by nature 



GARDENING IN HEAVY SOILS 29 

among rocks, such as Aubretia, the creeping Phloxes, 
and many kinds of Pinks, including Carnations. 
Such a border is not difficult to make, especially if it 
is enclosed by fairly large rocks shaped like tiles and 
driven firmly into the ground; and it is one of the 
easiest means of providing drainage, especially for 
shallow-rooting plants. In a light soil it is well to 
plant, if possible, in the autumn, so that the plants 
may be thoroughly established before the summer 
droughts; but in a stiff clay many plants should be 
planted in the spring, since winter damp is a greater 
danger to them than summer drought. This applies, 
perhaps, even to Roses, unless the soil can be thor- 
oughly prepared for them beforehand, and to all ex- 
cept the hardiest shrubs. It is true, of course, that 
with a favourable winter Roses will survive even in 
the stiffest clay, and that in such a case they will do 
much better their first summer than if they are planted 
in the spring; but if the winter is very severe they 
are likely to go off wholesale. If the gardener likes to 
take that risk, he can plant in the autumn, but not 
later than the beginning of November; if he prefers 
safety, he will plant in early spring, as soon as all 
danger of severe frosts seems to be over. Most her- 
baceous plants can be safely planted in the spring, 
and some, in a stiff clay, can only then be safely 
planted. Larkspurs and phloxes, for instance, are very 
apt to go off if planted in autumn.^ Even plants 

^ Exception must be taken to the application of this statement to American 
gardens; Phloxes do well in the United States when autumn-planted. 
Larkspurs also when on well-drained soil. L. Y. K. 



30 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

like Pseonies and German Irises, which usually will 
not flower well the same year if planted in spring, 
are best so planted in a very stiff clay. As in the 
case of Roses, they may do nothing the first year, 
but they are well established before the winter comes. 
In any case, if autumn planting is done at all with 
herbaceous plants, it should be done as early as pos- 
sible, and it can be done earlier in heavy than in light 
soils, because there is less danger of drought. Speak- 
ing generally, deep-rooting plants are better moved 
in autumn and shallow-rooting in spring, as the shal- 
low-rooters recover most quickly from disturbance. 
But in a light soil many shallow-rooting plants are 
best moved in the autumn, as there is no fear of their 
perishing from winter cold and damp, whereas if 
moved in spring they may not recover before a long 
drought begins. Such plants can usually be moved 
in spring with perfect safety in a stiff soil; whereas 
a good many deep-rooting plants in such a soil will 
succumb to winter cold and damp if moved in au- 
tumn. 

Speaking generally, again, deep-rooting plants are 
most suitable to light soils, in which their roots protect 
them from drought, while shallow-rooting plants do 
best in heavy soils, where there is usually enough 
moisture on the surface even in summer to keep their 
roots cool. But this is only a general rule. Some deep- 
rooting plants, such as Paeonies, are never so fine as 
in a stiff soil, and many shallow-rooting plants will 
not endure the cold and damp of a stiff clay. 



GARDENING IN HEAVY SOILS 31 

Most bulbs, of course, must be planted in the au- 
tumn even in the stiffest soils, and they should be 
planted as early as possible, so that they may be able 
to start into growth before the winter cold begins. 
This applies particularly to Daffodils, all kinds of 
Squills, Chionodoxas, Snowdrops, all Lilies that are 
planted in autumn, and even to Crocuses. It is less 
important in the case of Tulips, as most of these start 
into growth later. It is, as a rule, more difficult to 
grow bulbs well in a heavy than in a light soil, as they 
are particularly apt to rot off from damp. It is well, 
therefore, to put some drainage under them, and to 
surround them with leaf-mould and grit. Particular 
care should be taken that the soil is pressed close 
round them, as, if it is not, water will get into the 
empty spaces and rot them in the winter. This is 
more difficult to ensure in stiff clay than in a light soil, 
as the clay after being dug remains in lumps, whereas 
the light soil crumbles away. Bulbs in a stiff soil 
should not be planted so deep as in a light one. As 
bulbs differ very much as to the depth at which they 
like to be planted, it is impossible to give general 
rules in this matter; but four inches is quite deep 
enough for the base of Tulip, Daffodil, or Snowdrop 
bulbs, while Crocuses can be placed not more than 
an inch below the surface. 

There are many plants which thrive in half-shade 
with a north aspect on light soils but which prefer 
full sun and a southern aspect on heavy ones. This 
applies to Pseonies, Pansies of all kinds, Phloxes, 



32 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

Michaelmas Daisies, Madonna Lilies, and, indeed, 
all the Lilies which will do well in stiff soils — Day 
Lilies (Hemerocallis), Columbines, many species of 
Campanula, Lilies of the Valley, Violets, Coreopsis, 
the hardy Cyclamen, Larkspurs, Foxgloves, Doroni- 
cum, Alstroemeria, Funkia, Cranesbills, Christmas 
roses. Rose of Sharon, all the German Irises (though 
these, indeed, prefer full sun with any soil). Lupins, 
Mimulus, Bergamot, Forget-me-nots, Anemone japon- 
ica, Solomon's seal, Dicentra spectabilis, Polyanthuses, 
and even Primroses, Spirseas of all kinds. Meadow Rue, 
Spider wort, and Trollius. All these plants will do well 
in a stiff soil, provided they get plenty of sun and do 
not suffer too much from stagnant moisture. In very 
hot places Anemone coronaria will do better than in 
light soils, and even Anemone fulgens will thrive if 
some leaf -mould and lime are mixed with the clay. 
Hollyhocks also must have a warm place on a stiff 
soil, and should always be planted in spring. Lark- 
spurs and Phloxes are never so magnificent as in a 
stiff soil properly prepared. Pansies, Polyanthuses, 
Trollius, Day Lilies, and Lilies of the Valley all grow 
well in a stiff soil if it is also fertile. The Madonna 
Lily is often at its best in clay if it is protected from 
stagnant moisture and in the fullest sun. It also 
likes lime mixed with soil. Of other Lilies, the Tiger 
Lily, the Orange Lily, Lilium umbellatum, L. elegans, 
L. Martagon, and L. Pyrenaicum will all grow well 
in clay; while L. Chalcedonicum, though a capricious 
plant, is sometimes seen at its best in clay in a hot 



GARDENING IN HEAVY SOILS 33 

place where the soil is impregnated with lime. The 
magnificent Lilium Szovitzianum is also said to grow 
well in clay, but it, like L. Chalcedonicum, needs to 
be thoroughly protected from stagnant moisture.^ 
Among the Narcissi some do much better in clay than 
others. Speaking generally, the pheasant-eye Nar- 
cissus (H. poeticus) and those hybrids which are 
nearest to it do better in a stiff soil than the Trumpet 
Daffodils. For these latter the soil should be pre- 
pared with grit and humus. The double form of 
Narcissus poeticus thrives better in a clay soil than 
in any other. It is commonly supposed that all roses 
do best in a clay soil, but this is not the case. Nothing 
suits most roses so well as a rich loam; and many 
of the more delicate teas and Chinas are apt to die 
off in a stiff clay unless it is very carefully prepared. 
Of all roses hybrid perpetuals do best in a clay soil, 
and of these the hardier and more vigorous should 
be chosen. It is certainly true, however, that clay 
is better suited to roses than to most plants; but 
the common idea that any rose will thrive in a clay 
soil, if planted anyhow, often leads to disappointment. 
The more rich and porous the soil is made the better, 
and this applies, not only to roses, but to all kinds of 
shrubs. Indeed, it is useless to attempt to grow any 
except the most robust and long-suffering shrubs in 



^ Some gardeners recommend planting Lilies on the sides instead of up- 
right, in order to drain the water from their crowns. This is a practical 
method but in any case the Uly should be set on a bed of silver sand for 
drainage. L. Y. K. 



34 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

a stiff clay without a thorough and deep preparation 
of the soil. 

The soil also should be carefully prepared where 
any annuals are to be sown, for a stiff clay is by nature 
too hard and rough and uneven, even when thoroughly 
broken up, for seeds to germinate well in it. Indeed, 
on clay one seldom sees those self-sown seedlings which 
are so common in a sandy soil; and even trees repro- 
duce themselves from seed much more rarely, which 
is, no doubt, the reason why light soils are apt to 
be more wooded than heavy ones. Therefore, when 
seeds are sown out of doors on clay the surface of the 
soil should not only be very thoroughly broken up, 
but should be enriched and softened with leaf-mould 
and grit. It is seldom much use to sow annuals in 
autumn on clay, though it is the best way of growing 
many kinds on a light soil. Indeed, all annuals should 
be sown, even in the spring, some weeks later on clay 
than on sand. In the case of biennials and perennials 
many kinds which can be sown in the open ground 
when it is sandy should be sown in boxes of prepared 
soil where the natural soil is clay, since not only are 
they apt to fail to germinate, but they are also liable 
to be eaten off by slugs while still in a young and 
tender state. Slugs and snails are perhaps the worst 
pests of a heavy soil, and there is no means of extir- 
pating them. They can only be dealt with in detail 
by killing all that are encountered and by surround- 
ing the plants for which they have a particular fancy 
with soot or ashes. Not only is the voracity of slugs. 



GARDENING IN HEAVY SOILS 35 

though vegetarian, comparable with that of sharks 
and crocodiles when the difference of size is considered, 
but they have also a horrible epicurism of taste which 
will not be satisfied by an innocent meal off the leaves 
of vigorous and full-grown plants. They make for 
whatever is young and tender, and are happy only 
when they can kill where they dine. Where they 
abound, therefore, seedlings should not be exposed to 
them until they have outgrown their first delicacy.^ 
All these matters make gardening on clay a difficult 
and troublesome business; and the stiff er the clay 
the stiff er is the gardener's task. But we cannot all 
live on a rich loam of the right consistency. We must 
take gardening as a game, with different rules in dif- 
ferent places. Sometimes the rules are easy and 
sometimes difficult. On a stiff clay they are certainly 
very difficult. But some people find the most difficult 
games the most interesting, and the born gardener 
reveals his genius most when he has to deal with stiff 
clay or pure sand. 

* In the United States snails and slugs are not common. Their counter- 
part may be said to be the cutworm, whose ravages many American gar- 
deners know too well. L. Y. K. . ^ 



CAMPANULAS 

THERE are some flowers which in the most formal 
garden never lose their wildness or that air of 
romance which most wild flowers possess. Every 
Daffodil looks like a meadow flower, and all cam- 
panulas seem to belong to the mountain-side or the 
woodland. There is a mysterious charm about all 
bell-shaped flowers, as if they really had some secret 
musical purpose; and there seems to be a further 
mystery in the dim-blue colour of campanula bells. 
The wild beauty of these plants has been but little 
touched or altered by the florists, and the reason, no 
doubt, is that Nature herself has already done nearly 
all that can be done with them. There are some plants, 
such as Pansies or Begonias, in which she seems to 
produce merely possibilities for the gardener to realize. 
There are others which she herself perfects for the 
garden, enlarging their flowers until they can scarcely 
be further enlarged without loss of symmetry, and 
developing innumerable species infinitely varied in 
habit and form. This is the case with campanulas. 
There are some that grow as tall as a man, and some 
that grow scarcely higher than moss. The flowers 
of some are bell-shaped, others starry, and others al- 
most flat like plates. Only in colour do they vary 
little, being nearly all of a soft-grey blue or purple, 

36 



CAMPANULAS 37 

although there are soft-pink Canterbury-bells and 
white varieties, either natural or garden, of many 
species. In some cases the florists have enlarged their 
flowers, in one or two they have doubled them; they 
have also produced a certain number of hybrids, but 
even among the hybrids as many have come by ac- 
cident as by design. But all these are only exceptions; 
most campanulas are as Nature has made them; and 
she has produced few flowers with more character and 
beauty. For garden purposes it is convenient to 
divide campanulas into classes, the tall kinds of the 
lowland and the low-growing mountain species, while 
there are a certain number of intermediate kinds, such 
as our own English harebells and Campanula car- 
patica. The taller kinds, naturally, are best suited 
for the border, and the mountain species for the rock- 
garden; although several of the latter are so easily 
grown that they make excellent plants for the front 
of the border. Most of the border campanulas are 
woodland or half woodland plants, and, therefore, 
they like a cool or a shady place, except in a very stiff 
soil. They are nearly all easily grown, but they pre- 
fer a rich soil, and many of them will not reveal their 
full beauty without it. The best known of all cam- 
panulas is the Canterbury-bell (C. medium), of which 
it is scarcely necessary to speak except to say that 
the double and cup and saucer varieties are not nearly 
so beautiful as those with flowers of a natural and 
simple form. Two other species are almost as com- 
mon and, being perennials, are even more useful than 



38 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

the Canterbury-bell — namely, C. latiloba (or grandis) 
and C. persicifolia. C. latiloba is the easiest grown 
of the campanulas, thriving in poor soil, provided it 
is not too hot, and increasing like a weed. It has 
soft-blue flowers shaped like a plate or a shallow 
saucer, and there is a white variety which grows 
stronger than the type. C. persicifolia is, perhaps, 
the most beautiful of all border campanulas, and one 
of the few that have been improved by the florists. 
The type is naturalized in some parts of England, 
and has bell-shaped flowers of the ordinary cam- 
panula blue. There is a natural white variety of it, 
also naturalized. C. p. grandiflora is a variety with 
much larger flowers and a most beautiful and vigorous 
plant. It can be obtained with dark-blue, pale-blue, 
and white flowers. C. persicifolia, like most cam- 
panulas, can be raised very easily from seed, and the 
best way to obtain fine forms is to raise a number of 
seedlings from a good strain of the grandiflora variety 
and to keep only the finest of these, raising seedlings 
from them again in due course. C. persicifolia is not 
a very long-lived plant, and is apt to dwindle and 
deteriorate after two years or so, so that the stock 
should be constantly renewed. Several double varie- 
ties have lately been produced, but in all of them a 
great part of the peculiar grace of the flower is lost, 
and there seems to be no reason whatever for their 
existence. C. latifolia is a fine British species with 
pale-blue flowers. In rich soil and a cool situation it 
wiU grow 5 ft. or more high and seeds itself freely. 



CAMPANULAS 39 

There is a beautiful white variety and a variety called 
macrantha, a fine plant, but not so stately in habit 
as the type. C. van Houttei and C. Burghalti are 
probably hybrids between C. latifolia and some other 
parent unknown. They are both very beautiful, 
having large bells much paler in the latter than in 
the former. They grow only about 2 ft. high. 

C. lactiflora is another stately bell-flower, growing 
often 6 ft. in height. Its flowers are small, but very 
numerous, and of a very pale-blue colour. There is a 
variety with deeper blue flowers. C. celtidifolia ap- 
pears to be only a rather inferior variety of the same 
species. C. lactiflora seeds itself freely, and should 
be left in the same place for years, as it shows its full 
beauty only when undisturbed. 

Campanula pyramidalis is a well-known plant, 
often grown in pots in greenhouses. It is, however, 
perfectly hardy, though it is apt to deteriorate quickly 
after the first year's flowering. It also often grows 
6 ft. high and remains in flower for a long time. Al- 
though such a tall plant, chance seedlings of it will 
thrive in the fissures of walls, and in such places it 
often seeds itself profusely. It is best renewed from 
seed about every two years, and, if the seed is sown 
early in spring and the plants are well treated, they 
will flower the next year. There is also a fine white 
variety and a shorter variety called compacta. C. 
pyramidalis likes more sun than most of the taller 
campanulas. 

Campanula alliarisefolia is a handsome plant grow- 



40 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

ing less than 2 ft. high. It has large drooping white 
bells, and can be easily raised from seed. Campanula 
urticifolia is usually seen in the white double-flowered 
variety. This is one of the few cases in which doub- 
ling improves a campanula, and it is a very pretty 
plant. C. glomerata is a British species and very 
easily grown. It is only about a foot high, and the 
flowers, of a rich violet colour, are crowded together 
at the top of the stalk. The white variety is very 
beautiful, but not so vigorous as the type. There is 
also a new very dwarf form called acaulis, a good 
plant for the rock garden. C. punctata is another 
low-growing border plant, with white spotted flowers. 
It often takes a year or two to establish itself, and 
then is apt to become a weed. Besides these are two 
fine hybrids, C. Hendersonii and C. Fergussonii, both 
of them, perhaps, being crosses between C. carpatica 
and C. pyramidalis. They are both valuable and 
distinct border plants growing about 18 in. high. 

We will pass now to the campanulas of inter- 
mediate growth, most of them inhabitants of hill 
countries or Alpine pastures, but most of them also 
easily grown in the border. The English Harebell, 
C. rotundifolia, is, of course, both a lowland and a 
highland plant; and only its commonness prevents 
it from being a favourite flower in our gardens. The 
white form is rather rare, though often seen in Derby- 
shire. It is less vigorous than the type, and often 
dies if divided. C. Hostii is a variety of C. rotundifolia, 
and scarcely to be distinguished from it except by 



CAMPANULAS 41 

the eye of the botanist. It is chiefly valuable for its 
white form, which is much more vigorous than the 
white harebell proper, and can be divided without 
fear. There is also a curious and beautiful double 
variety of C. rotundifolia called C. soldanelloides. 
This should be grown in some cool part of the rock 
garden, as it is far less vigorous than C. rotundifolia. 
Campanula carpatica is a well-known and beautiful 
plant with large, open, bell-shaped flowers, growing 
about 9 in. high. There is a white variety, and 
several other varieties, of which pelviformis is partic- 
ularly beautiful. C. carpatica is best raised from 
seed, and the seedlings are apt to vary a good deal 
in the size of their flowers and also in the depth 
of their colour. Campanula turbinata is a dwarf 
variety with flowers very large in proportion to its 
size, and one of the finest of campanulas for the rock 
garden. It will not often come true from seed, and 
therefore should be increased by division in early 
spring. Campanula mirabilis is a plant from the 
Caucasus, of which a great deal was made when it 
first appeared some ten years ago. It is certainly 
beautiful, being like a very delicate Canterbury- 
bell, but, as it often takes years before it flowers and 
appears always to die after flowering, it is not a very 
valuable garden plant. It can be easily raised from 
seed, and should be grown in rather poor, stony soil, 
on the lower slopes of the rock garden. Campanula 
rhomboidalis is a pretty harebell growing about a 
foot high and thriving in any border of ordinary soil. 



42 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

It can be easily raised from seed. C. barbata is no 
doubt the most beautiful of all these intermediate 
campanulas, perhaps, the most beautiful of all cam- 
panulas. Unfortunately, it is rather capricious, grow- 
ing freely and increasing by self-sown seedlings in 
some places and dwindling away without flowering 
in others. In Switzerland it is a plant of the Alpine 
pastures, and more often than not a biennial. It 
seems to do best in light, rich soil, in a fairly sunny, 
well-drained place, where the ground is carpeted with 
other low-growing plants. It can be easily raised 
from seed, and its beauty is such that no pains should 
be spared to make it thrive. 

There are a great many mountain campanulas, 
some very easy to grow and some difficult, but nearly 
all both interesting and beautiful plants for the rock 
garden. The best known of these are C. caespitosa and 
C. pusilla (or pumila) which may for garden purposes 
be regarded as the same plant. C. caespitosa is a 
little harebell only a few inches high, which will 
grow in a border in light, rich, well-drained soil, but 
which looks its best and lives longest in long, deep, 
and narrow pockets in the rock garden. In such 
places it will thrive in full sun and poor soil, throw- 
ing out runners wherever it can find space and grow- 
ing into a plant a foot or more long. The blue flowers 
vary a good deal in the depth of their colour, and 
there is a white variety. C. caespitosa can, like all 
or nearly all the rock campanulas, be increased by 
cuttings taken when they are just starting into growth 



CAMPANULAS 43 

in the spring. These cuttings will make good flowering 
plants the same year, if they are stuck in cold frames. 
But the simpler plan is to raise seedlings, and these, 
if seed is sown in March or April in a cold frame, will 
also flower the same year. Hundreds of plants can 
be quickly raised in this way at the cost of a few pence, 
and plants raised from seed are the most vigorous. 
The white variety often comes true from seed. C. 
caespitosa makes a particularly beautiful contrast 
with Sedum album, which flowers at the same time. 

Scarcely less well known, and quite as beautiful, 
is Campanula muralis (also called Portenschlagiana) . 
This plant, although it will grow in the smallest fis- 
sures of rock in the hottest sun, will also thrive in 
rich soil in cool and half shady places. There are 
two varieties and their naming is rather uncertain. 
The type appears to be the smaller plant with pale 
blue flowers, while the variety Bayarica is larger and 
has deeper and more purple flowers. Both are most 
valuable plants for the rock garden, particularly for 
the north side, where they may be mixed with Silene 
alpestris with beautiful effect. They are very deep- 
rooting plants and should be left undisturbed as long 
as possible. They can be increased either by division 
or by cuttings treated like the cuttings of C. caespitosa. 
Seed is not very common, and there is, unfortunately, 
no white variety known. 

Campanula pulla is a plant with much the same 
habit of growth as C. caespitosa, but even smaller, 
and with deeper blue, or rather purple, flowers. It is 



44 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

also rather more delicate, though easily grown in long, 
narrow pockets of the rock garden and in light rubbly 
soil where its runners have room to increase. It will 
thrive either on the north or south side, but should 
always have a cool root run. It is best moved and 
divided every two or three years. It can be increased 
by seed, though this is rather uncertain in germina- 
tion unless sown as soon as ripe; by cuttings, as in 
the case of C. caespitosa; or by division. 

C. Wilsoni is a pretty hybrid between C. pulla and 
C. carpatica and more vigorous than C. pulla, though 
of the same habit of growth. There appears also to 
be one or two other hybrids of C. pulla, such as C. 
haylodgensis, though these are of uncertain parentage. 
C. Tommasiniana is another small Bluebell, with long 
and very narrow pale blue flowers. It has a very 
delicate beauty, but is quite easy to grow in chinks 
of the rocks, thriving best in full sun. It must be 
increased by division or cuttings. 

Campanula garganica is a small campanula with 
leaves very like those of C. muralis, but with star- 
shaped flowers. There appears to be some doubt as 
to which of two varieties is the type. One of these 
is more tufted than the other, has shiny green leaves, 
and blue flowers. The other has leaves more bronze 
or brown in colour, a more spreading habit of growth, 
and flowers nearer to purple in their hue. Of this 
form, which is perhaps the type, there is also a white 
or almost white variety. Both are very beautiful, 
and easily grown in narrow chinks of rock or even 



CAMPANULAS 45 

fissures of the wall in full sun. They can be easily- 
raised from seed or cuttings, and should be left un- 
disturbed when once planted, as they root very deeply. 
The variety called hirsuta, with downy leaves, is a 
larger and more vigorous plant altogether, and will 
thrive on the north or south side of the rock garden. 
It should be increased by cuttings or division. All 
the forms of C. garganica are very beautiful, and pecu- 
liarly well-fitted to the rock garden. 

C. Waldsteiniana is a very small campanula rather 
like C. garganica in its flowers, though more upright 
in growth. It is rather rare, but quite easy to grow 
in sunny chinks between the rocks. It must be in- 
creased by cuttings or very careful division. 

Campanula abietina is a beautiful plant quite easy 
to grow, but rather a shy bloomer. It is best grown 
in rather poor light soil and in full sun among the 
rocks, and should have a top dressing of leaf-mould 
every spring. It can be readily increased by division, 
and, indeed, thrives best if divided and given fresh 
soil every two years or so. Otherwise it is apt to die 
out. C. abietina is rather taller than most of the 
rock campanulas, throwing up stalks about 8 in. in 
height. 

Campanula isophylla and C. fragilis are two beau- 
tiful prostrate campanulas usually grown in pots; 
and, indeed, they are too tender to thrive out of doors 
except in warm places. It is worth while, however, 
to try them in the warmest part of the rock garden 
closely packed among the rocks. C. isophylla likes 



46 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

fairly rich soil consisting chiefly of mortar rubble and 
humus, and it must be watered in hot dry weather. 
C. fragilis will do best in the narrowest chinks between 
the rocks in a soil mainly made up of rubble. It can 
be raised very easily from seed. C. isophylla is best 
increased by cuttings taken in spring. Both should 
be protected in winter if they are left out of doors. 

There are a few campanulas from the high Alps 
which are difficult to grow. Among them C. Allioni, 
C. cenisia, C. excisa, C. Elatines, C. lanata, and C. 
Zoyzii. They are all purely rock plants and should 
be grown in very narrow chinks of the rocks, in a 
soil consisting mainly of sand and rubble, with a very 
little leaf-mould. They are best grown from seed 
when it can be obtained. C. Allioni spreads by means 
of runners throwing up little tufts, and should be 
given some space to increase in. C. cenisia and C. 
Zoyzii are tiny tufted plants. C. cenisia grows in its 
native home in masses of broken shale. C. Zoyzii 
likes a narrow fissure and does well in some gardens. 
C. excisa is worth attempting, since it has a flower 
both curious and beautiful and can be readily raised 
from seed. C. lanata has a yellow flower, and very 
little appears to be known about its culture in Eng- 
land. It comes from the Balkans. 

All the rock campanulas are best disturbed or 
divided in spring, as some even of the most vigorous 
of them are apt to die in the winter if they are dis- 
turbed in autumn. Although most of them like a 
good deal of sun, they also like a cool place for their 



CAMPANULAS 47 

roots, and, therefore, should be placed so that their 
roots can run under rocks. The kinds, such as caespi- 
tosa, pulla, and Allioni, which run under the soil, 
should be given plenty of room for increase, as other- 
wise they quickly deteriorate. The more difficult 
species all like a south-west aspect, but many of the 
more vigorous kinds, such as caespitosa, garganica 
hirsuta, turbinata, Wilsonii, and pulla do well on the 
north side if unshaded, and are most useful plants 
for this purpose. Muralis, as we have said, will thrive 
also in half shade. With the Pinks and Saxifrages, 
Campanulas are the most valuable of all families of 
plants for the rock garden. 



THE CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 

THERE is some vagueness in the use of the term 
Alpine as appKed to plants. It never means 
merely the plants of the Alps. Indeed, the epithet 
Alpinus is applied botanically to mountain plants 
from other continents besides Europe. But besides 
this geographical looseness there is also some uncer- 
tainty about the character which is implied by the 
word Alpine. Some people apply it generally to all 
plants which grow on mountains, however readily 
they may adapt themselves to the lowlands. Others 
confine it to those high mountain plants which can 
only be grown in our gardens in special conditions 
and with some care and skill. This seems the best 
use of the word for any one who considers Alpine 
plants from the point of view of their cultivation, 
since it is only the more difficult among them that 
need to be cultivated in a peculiar way. 

But, even if one confines the term to mountain 
plants that need special conditions, there still remains 
the difficulty that such plants vary a good deal in the 
conditions which they require; and ignorance of this 
fact causes many failures. Not only do Alpine plants 
come from many different climates, but even the 
same range of mountains will usually afford a great 
diversity of conditions, resulting in an equal diversity 
in the character and requirements of the plants which 

48 



CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 49 

grow upon it. Thus, even in the Swiss Alps, there 
are some plants that are purely saxatile growing in 
very narrow and deep fissures or chinks between the 
rocks, needing hardly any soil for their nourishment 
and getting all the food and protection they require 
from the rocks which surround their roots. Plants 
of this kind are apt to be very deep-rooting, and, 
when once they have thrust their roots down among 
the rocks deeply embedded in the soil, they are usually 
safe against any amount of drought and heat in the 
summer or moisture and cold in the winter. The 
more difficult among them need scarcely any soil 
at all, merely a little grit and rubble to fill up the 
spaces between the rocks. They will usually thrive 
on a steep, sloping bank; and there is no need to ar- 
range the rocks where they grow so as to catch and 
hold the water on the surface of the soil, as they get 
all the moisture they need from the rocks about their 
deeper roots. Most of them like all the sun they can 
get, and should, therefore, be grown on rock-work 
facing to the south. Many plants of this kind which 
can be successfully grown in English rock gardens 
come from mountains in Asia Minor and other hot 
countries, so that they sometimes suffer from very 
sharp frosts, especially if accompanied by cutting 
winds. They should therefore be grown in sheltered 
places, and in very hard winters should be protected 
with a mat or cut heather.^ Among plants of this 
deep-rooting purely saxatile character may be men- 

^For "cut heather" Americans may read "pine boughs." L. Y. K. 



50 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

tioned the Aethionemas, some of the more diflficult 
Campanulas, the AcanthoHmons, the Wahlenbergias 
(also called Edraianthus), Armeria caespitosa, some 
of the smaller and more delicate Pinks such as Dian- 
thus neglectus and D. freynii. Geranium argenteum 
and G. cinereum, Hypericum repens, H. reptans, and 
H. coris, Iberis saxatilis, Lychnis lagascae, Phyteuma 
comosum, Potentilla nitida, Saxifraga longifolla, S. 
pyramidalis, and many other saxifrages of the same 
class, Silene Elizabethae, Antirrhinum asarina, Ero- 
dium guttatum, and E. chrysanthum. These plants 
are not all diflScult to grow; a good many of them, in- 
deed, are quite easy; but they all do best, and are 
safest against the caprices of our climate, when grown 
in deep and narrow chinks between rocks; and they 
will all thrive with very little soil. The problem of 
the cultivation of plants of this kind is, therefore, 
fairly simple. The main thing is to induce them to 
root deeply. Until they have done that, they must 
be protected from drought as a rule; but, when they 
have done it, they will protect themselves. Most of 
them will thrust their roots several feet down. The 
rocks about them, therefore, should be equally deeply 
embedded in the ground, and the soil should be thor- 
oughly well drained as far as their roots are likely 
to descend. It is no use to attempt to grow such 
plants upon a heavy or damp subsoil with a foot or 
so of rocks and grit above it. They will thrive until 
they reach the subsoil, and then their roots will rot 
away the first winter after they have reached it. 



CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 51 

But there are other high mountain plants — and 
these are often the most difficult to grow — which 
are not content merely with deep and narrow chinks 
between the rocks. They are plants which, in their 
native homes, obtain a continual supply of moisture 
from the melting snows during their growing and 
flowering season; and they need, therefore, a supply 
of moisture, when they are grown in a rock garden, 
in all hot and dry weather. They also usually need 
as much sun as they can get; and, since in their native 
mountains they are at rest and frozen hard for many 
months of the year, they are apt to suffer very much 
from the damp of an English (or American) winter, 
and often require as sharp a drainage as the purely 
saxatile plants. Plants of this kind often root deeply, 
but they often also increase by means of runners which 
travel below the surface of the soil and throw up 
tufts in all directions. In this case they cannot be 
grown in very narrow chinks, hke the purely saxatile 
plants, but must be given room enough for increase; 
and this also makes it difficult to protect them from 
drought. Gentiana verna is a plant of this kind; 
and it has got the reputation of being difficult to grow, 
because many people have treated it as if it were a 
purely saxatile plant, stuffing it into some narrow 
chink between the rocks in a place where no moisture 
will stay on the surface. Gentiana verna is really 
rather a plant of the Alpine pastures than of the 
rocks; and it is usually seen on grassy slopes which 
are watered by the melting snows during its flowering 



52 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

period, and where it can throw out its tufts in all direc- 
tions. If it is grown on a slope in England (or Amer- 
ica), however, it is difficult to protect from drought, 
especially as it needs all the sun it can get. It is best 
grown, therefore, in a little hollow of the rock garden, 
which will catch all the rain that falls into it, and 
where the plant will have plenty of room for increase. 
Gentiana verna is not difficult to grow when once its 
needs are understood, because it is not very impatient 
of moisture in the winter. There must be good drain- 
age below it; but, if such drainage exists, it can and 
should be grown in rich soil — a mixture of turfy 
loam and leaf-mould, for instance, suits it well. 

But there are other plants which need as much 
moisture in the summer, but which are so impatient 
of damp in the winter that they must be provided 
with a much lighter and poorer soil. It is plants such 
as these that are particularly difficult to grow; and 
yet a good many of them can be grown successfully 
if only the rocks are arranged so as to protect them 
both from drought in the summer and from damp in 
the winter. Like Gentiana verna, they must be grown 
in little hollows among the rocks, but in hollows where 
the drainage is very sharp. The pockets in which 
they are planted should not themselves be sloping, 
but slightly depressed in the middle like a saucer, so 
as to catch the rain. They should be planted close 
to a rock arranged so that their roots can run under 
it and be kept cool by it, but the other rocks should 
come closer together downwards like the sides of a 



CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 53 

pot, so that the earth enclosed by them may remain 
firm, and so that all rain may run down by the roots 
of the plant. 

Alpine plants which increase by underground run- 
ners, and which are liable to suffer from drought, are 
much benefited by a top-dressing of silver-sand and 
leaf -mould when they are just starting into growth 
in the spring. This top-dressing is peculiarly val- 
uable — and indeed essential — to all delicate sur- 
face-rooting plants, as it protects them from drought 
and gives them just the nourishment they require. 
It should be applied very carefully and worked in 
among the growths with the fingers, and may be re- 
peated later on in the summer if the earlier dressing 
has washed away. A top-dressing of this kind is a 
natural remedy, since Alpine plants in their native 
homes are often subject during all the warm part of 
the year to a perpetual wash of sand and grit and 
vegetable matter; and some of them, such as the smaller 
primulas, have a habit of growing out of the ground, 
which is no doubt a natural device to protect them 
from being smothered by the wash of earth. Such 
plants will soon die if they are not top-dressed. Al- 
pine plants with very woolly leaves are also the better 
for a top-dressing of pure grit in the autumn as this 
absorbs the moisture and prevents their suffering from 
it. The Fairy Forget-me-not (Eritrichium nanum) 
is an extreme instance of the plants which need the 
kind of culture described above. It and a few other 
plants of the high Alps have never yet, we believe. 



54 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

been successfully cultivated for any length of time in 
England, and are never likely to be until some new 
secrets of acclimatization are discovered. 

But there are other plants with the same kind of 
requirements, but less exacting, which often fail in 
English gardens because they are usually treated like 
the purely saxatile plants and so are apt to suffer from 
drought in the summer. Among such plants, some of 
which can be grown easily enough in the manner we 
have described, are Androsace carnea, A. ciliata, A. 
villosa, and A. vitaliana (also called Douglasia), 
Dianthus alpinus, and D. callizonus, Draba Mawii, 
and D. pyrenaica (also called Petrocallis), Globularia 
nana, Myosotis rupicola (this plant will thrive in a 
narrow chink, but needs protection from drought), 
Polemonium confertum, Omphalodes luciliae (a very 
capricious plant, which will often thrive on a north 
slope). Rhododendron chamaecistus (which likes some 
shade), Saxifraga burseriana, S. apiculata, S. Gries- 
bachi, S. Boydii, S. squarrosa and S. caesia, and Silene 
acaulis. Some of these plants are quite easy to grow, 
as, for instance, Androsace carnea and A. villosa, 
Polemonium confertum, and the white form P. c. 
mellitum, Saxifraga apiculata and S. caesia and Silene 
acaulis. But they are all the better for surface mois- 
ture, and are apt to perish from drought if grown as 
purely saxatile plants. There are also many plants 
which come between the two classes. Many of the 
Alpine primulas, for instance, are purely saxatile 
plants in their native mountains, yet are apt to suffer 



CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 55 

from drought in England if grown on the south side 
of the rockery, and tightly packed among the rocks; 
while, if they are placed on the north side, they often 
refuse to flower. The best plan with them is to grow 
them in little hollows on the south side where the rain 
will not all run away off the surface, and where they 
can be watered with some effect and get a little shade 
from the rocks about them. This applies also to 
Morisia hypogaea, a pretty little tufted cruciferous 
plant, with yellow flowers that often appear at the 
end of February and continue for months; also in a 
less degree to Erodium Reichardii (or Chamaedrioides) , 
a very minute prostrate plant with delicate white 
flowers, which sometimes suffers from drought if 
placed on a dry slope; also to Aquilegia pyrenaica, 
the smallest of the Columbines, and a plant which 
often suffers from drought in English rock gardens. 
There are also some larger plants which need the same 
kind of treatment such as Daphne Blagayana and 
Atragene (clematis) alpina. These also like a good 
deal of sun, and yet will not often endure the dryness 
of steep slopes in the rock garden. 

It is easy in most rock gardens that are properly 
planned and constructed to protect plants from ex- 
cessive moisture. The real difficulty usually is to 
protect them from drought and to know how much 
drought they will endure. On this point only experi- 
ence can bring certain knowledge; but the gardener 
can often guess a good deal from the nature of their 
roots and of their growth. Shallow-rooting plants, 



56 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

for instance, are always likely to suffer from drought, 
and also plants whose roots are very fine and delicate. 
The roots of some of the more delicate Alpines are 
like silk, whereas the roots of plants like the Aethione- 
mas, which will endure any amount of drought, are 
thick and strong. Further, it is easy to see that a 
plant which grows like a tree from a single trunk or 
crown will need a much smaller surface of soil in which 
to grow to its full size than a plant which spreads in 
a mossy tuft or by means of runners under the soil. 
Some of the plants which increase by means of runners 
need only a very narrow crevice or pocket between 
the rocks in which to spread, but it must be long as 
well as narrow. Such a plant, for instance, as Cam- 
panula pulla will thrive in a long slit full of leaf-mould 
and rubble, but if confined by rocks on all sides it 
will soon die out. All Alpine plants must be kept 
quite free from drip, and, therefore, no rocks must 
overhang them. The plants of the higher Swiss Alps 
usually prefer a south-west or a south-east aspect, 
those which suffer from drought or which flower very 
early doing best when they look towards the south- 
west. The Alpines from hot climates, such as the 
Aethionemas, the Wahlenbergias (except W. hedera- 
eea, which needs moisture and half shade), and the 
Onosmas should be placed on a slope looking full 
south. All Alpines when planted should be pressed 
very tightly into the ground. There is no detail in 
their culture more important than this; and after a 
sharp frost they should be examined to see whether 



CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 57 

the frost has hfted them at all out of the ground. If 
it has, they should be pressed back into their places. 
The best time of planting for most of the more dif- 
ficult Alpines is the early spring, or, if they are raised 
from seed, as soon in the summer as they are large 
enough to plant out. It is risky, of course, to plant 
out small seedlings in May or June; but, if they can 
be protected from drought, they will be strong plants 
by the autumn; and, though a few may succumb to 
the winter, the survivors will be much more healthy 
than if they had been enervated by the protection of 
a cold frame. For the higher Alpines all naturally 
like as much fresh air as they can get, and a winter 
in a cold frame will often undermine their constitu- 
tions. 

Whenever it can be done, the best as well as the 
cheapest way of obtaining Alpine plants is to raise 
them from seed. Most of them come readily from 
seed if it is sown as soon as ripe, and this should al- 
ways be done, if possible. When the seed cannot be 
obtained as soon as it is ripe, it should be sown about 
the end of March. The seed of the rarer and more 
delicate plants is best sown in shallow earthenware 
pans with, of course, a hole for drainage at the bot- 
tom. The soil should consist of a mixture of sand or 
grit and fine vegetable soil. The pans should be 
very sharply drained with a mixture of crocks or 
rubble filling about half the pan. The most impor- 
tant point in the raising of seedlings is to keep the 
soil always fairly moist; and it is a great help towards 



58 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

this to cover the pan with a sheet of glass to prevent 
evaporation. This sheet must be removed as soon 
as there is any danger of its drawing the seedHngs. 
Watering must always be done with a very fine rose, 
and care must be taken not to wash the seed all to 
the edges of the pan. To avoid this, and to keep the 
pans in an even state of moisture, some gardeners 
place them in troughs or basins with about two inches 
of water in them. Then the water gets into the pans 
through the hole at the bottom and keeps the soil 
always fairly moist. Where seed is sown of very 
rare or delicate plants, it is well to follow this plan. 
The seed of some Alpines, as, for instance, of the 
Saxifrages and some Campanulas, is almost as fine 
as dust. When such very small seed is sown it should 
be mixed with silver sand so that it may not be sown 
too thick, and should be covered only with the slight- 
est possible layer of the same silver sand. When the 
seedlings are up they must be protected from the hot 
sun, but must have plenty of light and air. 

It is impossible to give precise general directions 
as to the best soil for Alpines, as they vary a good 
deal in their requirements. Some, for instance, need 
lime, and to some it is poison. It is much to be de- 
sired that some one should make a trustworthy test 
of the lime haters and lime lovers, based upon ob- 
servation and experiment in an English garden. The 
lists which have hitherto been made are usually im- 
perfect and often erroneous. Most Alpine plants, 
however, do not dislike lime, and a great many are 



CULTIVATION OF ALPINE PLANTS 59 

the better for it. The best form in which it can be 
given to them by those whose rockwork does not 
consist of hmestone is mortar rubble; and a mixture 
of one part mortar rubble, both grit and lumps, with 
one part leaf mould or other thoroughly decayed 
vegetable matter, and one part fibrous loam will suit 
the great majority of Alpine plants thoroughly. In 
the case of those which dislike lime, lumps and grit 
of sandstone should be substituted for the mortar 
rubble. Speaking generally, one may say that the 
more difficult an Alpine plant is to grow the poorer 
should be the soil in which it is planted. But such 
plants, if planted in fine sand, would suffer much 
from drought. They need a soil consisting more than 
half of small lumps of rubble or rock, the rest being 
mainly grit, with a very little leaf mould. The spe- 
cially prepared soil should not be less than a foot, or, 
in the case of deep-rooting plants, two feet deep, 
and little pieces of rock or rubble should be placed 
here and there on the surface. All these precautions 
sound very elaborate and troublesome; but the gar- 
dener who has learned to take a delight in Alpine 
plants delights also in taking pains with them. Al- 
pine gardening is a game, and all good games are 
difficult to excel in. 



COLUMBINES 

THE Columbine is a very old English flower; 
indeed, Aquilegia vulgaris, the common colum- 
bine, with short-spurred flowers of a dull blue or pur- 
ple colour, grows wild in parts of England, and may 
be indigenous. This common columbine has always 
been a favourite with painters, because of its beauty 
of form. There are columbines in Titian's "Bacchus 
and Ariadne," and Durer drew them with obvious 
delight. They are a favourite flower in Italian em- 
broideries; and Parkinson, in the seventeenth cen- 
tury says that there are many sorts, "as well differing 
in form as colour of the flowers, and of them both 
single and double carefully noursed up in our gardens 
for the delight both of their forme and colours." Some, 
he says, "are wholly white, some of a blue or violet 
colour, others of a blush or flesh colour, or deep or 
pale red, or of a dead purple, or dead murrey colour, 
as nature listeth to shew itself." Among the double 
columbines, some he says, are "party-coloured blue 
and white and spotted very variably." He enumerates 
five varieties, one being the common single columbine 
and the others merely double forms of it. One of 
them, which he calls the rose or star columbine, and 
which has no spurs at all, but all its petals arranged 

"like unto a small thick double rose laid open or a 

60 



COLUMBINES 61 

spread marigold," has been lately revived as a novelty, 
and is certainly both a curious and a pretty flower. 

But the columbine in its finer forms is a modern 
plant, and one which may still be much improved. 
The beautiful long-spurred species from North Amer- 
ica and Siberia were unknown to Parkinson, and 
most of them were introduced into our gardens in the 
nineteenth century. They excel the common colum- 
bine both in beauty of form and in variety and purity 
of colour. They are inferior to it only in vigour; 
and, luckily, this defect has been lessened and may 
in time be entirely removed by hybridization; for 
there is no plant which hybridizes more readily than 
the columbine. Indeed, it hybridizes too readily, 
so that, unless a particular species is kept far apart 
from others, there is no telling what its offspring will 
be like. But this is a fault on the right side; for, 
although one may be disappointed with many seed- 
ling columbines grossly inferior to a beautiful parent, 
yet there is always a good chance that some will be 
superior; and the ordinary amateur, by merely saving 
seed from the best varieties and without any skill 
in hybridization, may in a few years obtain a splendid 
strain of columbines. Indeed, he may, if he cares to 
give up a good-sized plot of ground to their culture 
and if he selects his seed judiciously, obtain a race of 
plants surpassing most of those sold by the florists. 
For the beautiful long-spurred hybrids now on the 
market are too apt to have the rather delicate con- 
stitution of Aquilegia coerulea, and others of their 



62 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

North American parents. The amateur should aim 
at obtaining plants with the vigour of growth of 
Aquilegia vulgaris and the beauty of flower of the 
long-spurred species. The best way of doing this is 
to plant some of the better forms of Aquilegia vul- 
garis among the long-spurred species. The result 
will be, no doubt, that many inferior seedlings will 
be obtained, which should be destroyed as soon as 
they betray their inferiority; but there will also 
probably be some splendid plants with the virtues 
both of Aquilegia vulgaris and of the long-spurred 
species, plants growing 3 ft. or more high and with 
multitudes of large blossoms, blue and white, pink and 
white, pink and cream, purple and white, purple and 
cream, and red and yellow. From these alone should 
seed be saved, and they should, if possible, be isolated 
from inferior varieties. This kind of selection may be 
carried on indefinitely, and. If so carried on, ought to 
produce results beyond any yet obtained. 

There are now a good many species of columbine 
which can be cultivated In our gardens, and an Infinite 
number of varieties of these species and of hybrids. 
The varieties, for instance, of Aquilegia vulgaris are 
quite numerous. There is a fine white variety with 
larger flowers than the type, which Is, perhaps, the 
most vigorous and easily grown of all columbines. 
It Is, however, a dangerous plant for those who wish 
to obtain a fine strain of long-spurred hybrids, since 
it intermarries profusely with all columbines grown 
anywhere near it, and the offspring are apt to be an 



COLUMBINES 63 

exact likeness of the white parent, no matter what 
the form or the colours of the other parent may have 
been. There is also a very pretty marbled blue and 
white variety of Aquilegia vulgaris, no doubt that 
which Parkinson speaks of as party-coloured blue 
and white and spotted very variably. There is a 
dwarf form with dark blue double flowers, a variety 
with leaves mottled with yellow, and one called Witt- 
manniana with purple and white flowers. The double 
varieties are sometimes neat and curious, but not 
so beautiful in form as the single. 

The species which has been most valuable in hybrid- 
izing is Aquilegia caerulea, a most beautiful plant from 
the Rocky Mountains, with large blue and white 
flowers and very long spurs. It only grows about a 
foot high, and is more delicate both in appearance 
and in constitution than most columbines. It does 
not usually flourish for very long in our gardens, and 
often begins to dwindle away after flowering well 
for two years. Luckily, it can be raised very easily 
from seed, although it is sometimes rather difficult 
to obtain a strain of seed that comes true. It is said, 
indeed, that seed always should come from its native 
home, and some seedsmen sell seed directly imported. 
The seed should be sown in spring, so that the plants 
may be strong enough to plant out in their permanent 
homes in early autumn. If they are planted out late, 
they often succumb to our winters. Where the soil 
is heavy and cold, they should be planted out in 
spring. Aquilegia caerulea likes a light, rich soil with 



64 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

plenty of vegetable matter in it, and a fairly cool 
place. It is an excellent plant for the north side of a 
large rock garden. There is a rare white form, and 
also a yellow one which often appears in a batch of 
seedlings, but is inferior to the type. 

Aquilegia canadensis has light scarlet and yellow 
flowers, long-spurred, but smaller than those of A. 
caerulea. It has also a stronger constitution, and 
will flower well in our gardens for some years. Aqui- 
legia chrysantha is another long-spurred species from 
North America, with soft yellow flowers. It is a very 
vigorous species, almost as vigorous as A. vulgaris; 
and there are several varieties of it, including a double 
one. It deserves a place in every garden. Aquilegia 
californica is yellow and orange, and also a vigorous 
tall-growing plant. It has produced several hybrids, 
some superior to both species. Aquilegia Skinneri, 
a species from Central America, is also red and yellow, 
and a very bright-coloured flower. It has been used 
a good deal in hybridization; the hybrids with A. 
vulgaris are more vigorous than the species, and very 
various in colour and form. A. Skinneri itself, coming 
from a hot climate, is not very vigorous in our gar- 
dens, particularly in a heavy or cold soil. Aquilegia 
Jaeschkanii is a hybrid, also with yellow and red 
flowers. 

There are several species of columbines from Si- 
beria; but the only one well known is Aquilegia glan- 
dulosa. This resembles Aquilegia caerulea in colour 
and in the delicacy of its beauty; but it is more com- 



COLUMBINES 65 

pact and upright in growth, its spurs are rather shorter 
and its flowers not so widely opened. Its leaves are 
even more delicately cut, and it flowers some weeks 
earlier. Besides being one of the most beautiful of 
all columbines, it is unfortunately one of the few that 
are difficult to grow, often dying out quickly in Eng- 
lish^ gardens, and sometimes refusing to flower at 
all. It must never be disturbed while at rest, but 
should be moved, if at all, after it has flowered. It 
is best grown from seed sown as soon as ripe or in 
spring; and the seedlings should be placed in their 
permanent homes as soon as they are large enough 
to be moved; or, if they are not large enough till late 
in the year, they should be left till the spring, and 
wintered in a cold frame. There is still a good deal of 
uncertainty about the conditions which suit Aquilegia 
glandulosa best, as it is a most capricious plant. But 
it seems to prefer a light soil enriched with humus 
and a rather cool situation. Drought will often kill 
it off quickly. It should have a westerly or north- 
westerly aspect, as the flower-buds form very early 
and are apt to be withered up by the morning sun, 
when it follows a sharp frost. It is a plant well worth 
trying on sheltered north-westerly slopes of the rock 
garden; and it may be that a dash of lime in the soil 
will assist its growth. Some people say that it likes 
a heavily manured soil; but manure is probably more 



^May and June in the United States. A. glandulosa, according to 
Bailey, is likely to flower only two or three years, and should be treated 
as an annual. L. Y. K. 



6Q STUDIES IN GARDENING 

useful to it as a protection against drought than a 
nourishment, and should be placed well below the 
roots, or used as a top-dressing in hot weather, if ap- 
plied at all. At any rate, a plant so beautiful is worth 
some trouble. Aquilegia Stuartii is a hybrid between 
A. glandulosa and A. vulgaris Wittmanniana. It is, 
perhaps, the most beautiful of all columbines, being 
in appearance simply a finer variety of A. glandulosa. 
It is also capricious. It appears to do better in Scot- 
land than in England; and the late Dr. Stuart, who 
raised it, seems to have had little difficulty with it. 
It should be cultivated in the same way as A. glan- 
dulosa, but should be increased by division, as seed- 
lings seldom come true; and division should be done 
very carefully with a sharp knife after the plants have 
flowered. A. Stuartii is a plant which appeared to be 
almost extinct a few years ago; but in the last year or 
so some very fine forms of it have been raised, forms 
surpassing in beauty any other columbines; and it 
would be well if further experiments were made in 
hybridizing A. glandulosa with other varieties of A. 
vulgaris. In the case of A. Stuartii, we believe, the 
pollen of A. glandulosa was used. There seems to 
be no reason why plants should not in time be pro- 
duced with the delicate beauty of A. glandulosa and 
the vigour of A. vulgaris, and also with some variety 
of colour. Aquilegia alpina is a plant which is very 
seldom seen true in English gardens, and which ap- 
pears to lose a great deal of its beauty in captivity. 
The true species has large blue flowers and grows less 



COLUMBINES 67 

than a foot high, and there is a variety with white 
and blue flowers more beautiful even than this type. 
Aquilegia pyrenaica is the smallest of all columbines 
and a beautiful plant for the rock garden. It grows 
about half a foot high, and has soft blue flowers with 
bright golden anthers. The foliage is almost as delicate 
as that of a maidenhair fern. This, again, is a plant 
which is seldom seen true in English gardens. Most 
nurserymen sell for it a fine dwarf variety of A. vulgaris 
flowering very early, whereas A. pyrenaica is a per- 
fectly distinct plant and the latest flowering of all 
columbines. It seems to be diflScult to raise from 
seed, unless the seed is sown when just ripe; but it 
is not difficult to grow in a cool part of the rock gar- 
den in light soil with a good deal of leaf -mould. It 
does not always ripen seed in England. 

There are a good many other species of columbines; 
but we have mentioned most of those which are most 
distinct and beautiful. Columbines, but for a few 
exceptions, are easily grown in most English gardens; 
and the North American species, which do not last 
many years, are probably not true perennials in their 
own country. Indeed, all columbines are usually at 
their best in the first or second year of flowering, 
and should be frequently renewed from seed. Luckily 
they are among the easiest of plants to raise from seed, 
and many kinds will reproduce themselves freely, 
especially in light soil. The seed may be sowti as soon 
as ripe, in which case many of the seedlings will flower 
the next year; or else in May, when if well treated 



68 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

the seedlings are sure to flower the next year. The 
safest plan is to sow the seed in boxes in a soil made 
light and rich with leaf -mould. The seed usually 
takes some weeks to germinate; and the seedlings 
should be kept moist and lightly shaded, and planted 
out as soon as they are large enough. If plants are 
bought, they can be planted in early autumn or in 
spring. In a light soil they are best planted in autumn. 
Columbines can also be increased by division, but 
this must be carefully done with a sharp knife; and 
divided plants are seldom so vigorous as seedlings. 
The short-lived North American species, such as 
Aquilegia caerulea, are not worth dividing and should 
always be raised from seed. Columbines like a cool 
place, particularly in a light soil, and many of the 
more vigorous kinds grow well under the shade of 
trees. They are seen at their best, however, in a cool 
half-shaded border well enriched with manure and 
humus. In such conditions some of the most vigorous 
hybrids will grow to a great size and bear hundreds 
of blossoms for several years. These hybrids, though 
they may not have all the delicate beauty of Aquilegia 
glandulosa or Stuartii or caerulea, are better worth 
growing for the ordinary gardener, as there is no 
difficulty in their culture, and they are infinitely 
varied in the colour and form of their flowers and in 
their foliage. They are, indeed, among the most 
beautiful of all garden plants; and, as we have said, 
there seems to be no reason why they should not be 
made still more beautiful. Nor is there any reason 



COLUMBINES 69 

to fear lest their flowers should be made too large; for 
the best hybrids have a growth and leafage vigorous 
in proportion to the size of their flowers, and double 
columbines, luckily, are quite out of fashion, being 
found usually only among the varieties of Aquilegia 
vulgaris. In fact the columbine is a flower of the 
future even more than of the present. 



APRIL NOTES IN THE GARDEN ^ 

THIS year we have had some of the wild capri- 
cious glories of a mountain spring; no weeks 
of dull east wind to keep the colour out of the sky 
and the early flowers; but first of all continuous sun- 
shine all day with hoar frosts at night, and then tor- 
rents of rain, and one night a fierce snowstorm fol- 
lowed by a day of showers and warm sunlight. That 
was a day, indeed, that reminded one of a Swiss April, 
and one almost expected to see the gentians shining 
blue through the melting snow on the hillsides. Snow 
showers of this kind do little harm if unaccompanied 
by frost, and if no spell of east wind follows them. 
More harm was done by the earlier alternations of 
bright sunlight and frost; but even these came too 
early to be really disastrous. They caused the blue 
flowers of spring, the Chionodoxas and the first Squills, 
to fade quickly, and they injured the flowers of the 
early Daffodils and Irises. They also stunted the stalks 

^ The reader should remember that for gardens in the latitude of Boston, 
at least one month's difference must be allowed for blooming-period of 
most of the subjects named in this chapter. Tulip Kaufmanniana for in- 
stance, in the more northern parts of the United States seldom appears 
before early April; and the "early April tulips " (presumably the single and 
double florists' varieties) need not be looked for here until late April or 
early May. This chapter therefore is somewhat inapplicable to the Amer- 
ican climate. For its general interest and beauty it could not, however, 
be left out. L. Y. K. 

70 



APRIL NOTES IN THE GARDEN 71 

of the April Tulips; but these are now lengthening 
rapidly with the rain, and everything promises well, 
if only we can now have some sunshine to warm the 
sodden ground. The winter was unusually trying for 
delicate plants, since the warmth of the earlier months 
forced them Into growth, and then, when they had 
forgotten that there was such a thing as winter, there 
came a bitter spell In February, with not only frost, 
but cutting north-east winds. These do more harm 
than the frosts themselves, particularly to shrubs 
that are not quite hardy, and even to shrubs that will 
endure any amount of frost at the roots. Of twelve 
plants of LIthospermum prostratum, planted on the 
north-western slope of a rock garden, seven that were 
sheltered by rocks from the north-east wind are scath- 
less; the other five, unsheltered, had nearly all their 
branches killed and are now only just beginning to 
sprout from the stock. The shelter was only slight, a 
rock rising a few inches above the soil, on the north- 
east side of the plants, but It was sufficient to protect 
them, and they will be covered with blossom in a few 
weeks, while the others will take months to recover. 
Thus it Is that the gardener learns hard lessons from 
adversity. LIthospermum prostratum is often said 
to be a capricious plant. What It needs Is protection 
from north-east winds, rocks to keep its roots cool If it 
is In a hot soil or situation, and a light rich soil quite 
free from lime. Then It will flourish and prove itself 
to be the finest of all rock plants. 

The rock garden is already full of things to see. 



72 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

The first irises are over; but Iris orchioides is out, 
rather late perhaps, since it was planted only last 
year; and so is its cousin. Iris sindjarensis, and the yet 
more beautiful Iris Willmottiana. Narcissus nanus is 
in full blossom on a northern slope, making a vivid 
contrast with the blue Scilla sibirica. This is the 
most useful of all, perhaps, of the small rock narcissi. 
It is larger than Narcissus minimus and flowers later, 
but it has a more graceful habit of growth, and it is 
not too large for the smallest rockery. It has not the 
delicate beauty of Narcissus triandus albus, but it is 
far easier to grow; and in a light sandy soil on a north- 
ern slope it increases in numbers and in beauty from 
year to year. Unfortunately it is rather scarce, and 
many nurserymen sell N. lobularis under its name. 
N. lobularis is a pretty daffodil, but much larger, 
almost as large, indeed, as the English wild daffodil, 
and it is better suited to the grass than to a small 
rock garden. Narcissus cyclamineus, another rock 
daffodil of great beauty, is going over. It likes more 
shade than N. nanus, and, provided it is in shade, will 
thrive even on a dry rooty bank. It does not die out, 
like some small daffodils, but endures as well as N. 
nanus. N. minor is said to be superior to N. nanus, 
but there is not much difference between them, and 
N. minor is more expensive. 

This spring of Alpine weather has favoured the 
rapid growth of Alpine plants, which is often checked 
and stunted by our March and April east winds. 
No amount of experience can abate one's wonder at 



APRIL NOTES IN THE GARDEN 73 

the swiftness with which plants that seem to be dead 
one week are in full leaf and even in bud a fortnight 
later. The Aethionemas, for instance, were all cut 
back by the bitter wind of February, after keeping 
their leaves fresh and green until then. Their branches 
seemed to be quite dead, and one could not but fear 
lest their roots were dead too. But then, one day, 
all those withered branches were covered with little 
green tufts, and a few days later with little green 
leaves, and then, as the tufts opened, there were pink 
buds in the heart of them; and now, if we have warm 
weather and sunshine, Aethionema coridifolium and 
A. pulchellum will begin to flower in a few weeks. 
No plant is more rapid in throwing up its flowering 
stalks than the little biennial Androsace coronopifolia. 
It is best to sow this plant where it is to flower; and 
even then it often seems to pine through our winters. 
But with the first warm w^eather slender stalks rise 
from the tufts as they change from bronze to green, 
and now these stalks have a starry crown of white 
flowers that will continue for several months. An- 
drosace lactea is a perennial with much the same 
habit of growth and with flowers of even more delicate 
beauty, which is now in full bud after seeming to 
resent the freaks of an English winter as much as A. 
coronopifolia. Androsace carnea is in flower with 
blossoms of delicate pink, and is sending out green 
shoots in all directions among the leaf-mould with 
which it has been dressed. Nearly all delicate Alpines 
need to be dressed with leaf-mould when they start 



74 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

into growth in the spring, and many will shrivel up 
and die when the east winds blow for want of it. Gen- 
tiana verna and Dianthus alpinus are now throwing 
out little shoots, just like Androsace verna, and but 
for the leaf-mould they would probably have made 
no growth at all. 

Primula nivalis is in full bloom, and is certainly 
the best of the Alpine primulas, flowering more freely 
than any others, and surpassing them all in the beauty 
of its milk white blossoms. Though it looks to be 
the most Alpine of flowers, it is really a garden plant, 
being, we believe, a white form of Primula pubescens. 
It likes a westerly or north-westerly aspect, and is 
quite easy to grow even on level ground in light rich 
soil, but it shows its true beauty only among the 
rocks. It does not seem to suffer at all from our win- 
ters, and may be safely planted in early autumn. 
The mountain Tulips are, some of them, in flower, 
some in full bud, and some already over. Tulipa 
Kaufmanniana is really large enough for a border 
plant; but most people grow it on the rockery because 
it probably needs sharp drainage. It was introduced 
only a few years ago, and is almost the earliest to 
flower and the most beautiful of all Tulips. It is 
now over, but in the middle of March its blossoms 
began to open, at first creamy white and then flushed 
with pink on the outside, while the inside has a golden 
centre like that of a water-lily. It suffers little from 
any caprices of the weather, and its great blossoms, 
in their last glory, looked strange as they opened above 



APRIL NOTES IN THE GARDEN 75 

the snow-covered ground last Sunday morning. Tulipa 
biflora, a beautiful little species, with several white 
blossoms on a stalk, is also in flower now. There ap- 
pears to be a dwarfer variety of this, called Afghanica, 
which is an excellent plant for the rock garden and 
very easy to grow, increasing in ordinary well-drained 
soil. Tulipa lownei, a dwarf Tulip with delicate pink 
blossoms, is passing over, and so is T. pulchella, a 
pretty red Tulip marked inside like a Calochortus. 
These are apt to suffer and even to die under severe 
frosts in March, unless grown in a warm protected 
situation. Tulipa Batalinii and T. linifolia come late 
enough to be safe usually from such dangers — they 
will not flower for some weeks yet — and they are the 
most beautiful, perhaps, of all the small mountain 
Tulips, the first having creamy yellow flowers edged 
with a thread of crimson, the second being all of a 
scarlet that seems to glow with its own fire. Both 
have leaves that spread out prostrate on the ground, 
and are curiously crinkled. T. linifolia is supposed 
to be capricious; but it is fairly sure to succeed on a 
southern bank in a rubbly soil. T. batalinii is as easily 
grown as most Tulips. They both look their best 
rising through a carpet of some close-growing stone- 
crop such as Sedum glaucum, whose roots are too 
shallow to interfere with the bulbs, and whose leaves 
are not thick enough to prevent them from ripening 
well in the summer. 

The Aubrietias are fast coming into full flower. 
Such excellent strains of seed are now sold that it is 



76 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

scarcely worth while to buy the named varieties, many 
of which differ but little from each other. A packet 
of seed selected from the newer sorts will usually pro- 
duce plants of all sorts of colours, from deep purple 
through pale purple to pink and almost deep crim- 
son. The plants vary in quality of course from seed, 
some having small and washy-coloured flowers; but 
these can be dug up if the seedlings are planted fairly 
close the first year, and the better plants will soon 
cover the blank spaces. No plant is more easily raised 
from seed than Aubrietia. If it is sown in boxes in 
April, hundreds of good-sized plants will be ready to 
plant out in the autumn. When the plants grow 
straggly they should be cut back, and they will spring 
up with renewed vigour. The spring Phloxes are just 
coming into bloom. These beautiful plants are still 
much less grown than they should be, although they 
are most of them very easy to manage. Of Phlox 
subulata there are now many varieties, some with 
long trailing branches, some closely tufted. These 
latter are apt to be a little more diflScult than the 
former. Phlox Nelsoni, for instance, should be dis- 
turbed as little as possible, and grows best on a flat 
piece of ground in full sun. Its white flowers make a 
beautiful contrast with the bright pink ones of Phlox 
Vivid. The Trailing Phloxes, of which Phlox G. F. 
Wilson with very pale lavender flowers is one of the 
best, are very easy to propagate, as long-rooted trailers 
can be detached in the autumn and all quickly grow 
into strong plants. The tufted kinds are a little more 



APRIL NOTES IN THE GARDEN 77 

difficult. Cuttings often fail to strike, and the best 
plan is to put some leaf-mould round the plants in 
spring. The shoots will root in this, and they can 
be detached in early autumn, and, if protected from 
drought when planted, will stand the winter in the 
open ground. Phlox amoena is not so pretty in growth 
as the different varieties of Phlox subulata; but it 
flowers very early, and its pink blossoms are beautiful. 
It grows at a great pace, and can be propagated by 
simply breaking off pieces close to the ground and 
planting them in the open in early autumn. Phlox 
divaricata and P. ovata are fine species which flower 
later. 

The rock garden at this time of year is more in- 
teresting than the border, since Alpine plants are 
more rapid in their spring growth than the plants 
of the lowlands that have a longer season of activity; 
but borders are, or ought to be, rapidly putting on 
their beauty. Pansies and Forget-me-nots are com- 
ing out — the early Myosotis dissitiflora is in full 
bloom — the April Tulips are beginning to flower, 
and the Wallflowers are in bud. Wallflowers this 
year are poorer than usual, since many gardeners 
were unable to shift their seedlings in the drought 
of last summer. This shifting of seedlings as soon as 
they are about three inches high is one of the most 
important details in the culture of Wallflowers, and 
the neglect of it is the chief reason why they are often 
poorly grown even in pretentious gardens. Indeed, 
there are some gardeners who can grow Orchids better 



78 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

than Wallflowers, for the Wallflower, though a hum- 
ble plant, requires a certain treatment a little out 
of the ordinary routine. The seed should be sown 
very thinly in the open border and in poor soil, about 
the beginning of May. The seedlings should never 
be allowed to get crowded. When they are about 
three inches high they should be shifted, so that they 
may not make long tap roots and be difficult to move 
later on. They should have their crowns pinched out 
a little later, so that they may break into compact 
bushy plants, and in early October they should be 
moved into their quarters for the next spring, and 
planted very firmly in the ground. If by this time 
they have made long tap roots and grown leggy and 
straggling, they will resent moving, and very likely 
die off in the winter. 

Daffodils in the grass are now within a few weeks 
of their prime. Some of the earlier kinds, such as the 
Tenby daffodil and pallidus praecox are going over; 
and Princeps is now in full bloom. Pallidus praecox, 
the most beautiful of the earlier kinds, is rather capri- 
cious. It usually dies out soon in a border, but will 
often last for years in the grass on a northerly half- 
shaded slope. Even the Tenby Daffodil thrives better 
in the grass, though it is supposed to be a vigorous 
variety anywhere. Princeps is one of the easiest of 
Daffodils. Its flowers look rather commonplace when 
picked or in the border, but they have a peculiar 
beauty in the grass. There is no Daffodil, however, 
to equal the Queen of Spain as a grass flower. Bulbs 



APRIL NOTES IN THE GARDEN 79 

planted last autumn are now in full blossom. Since 
they are all imported from Portugal, they flower 
some weeks earlier than bulbs that have been some 
years in English ground. The Queen of Spain often 
dies out quickly in a border, particularly if the soil 
is rich. In the grass, in a northerly half-shaded slope 
full of the roots of trees, it flourishes as well as in its 
native home, and it surpasses nearly all the most 
costly new varieties in beauty. There is still a good 
deal of uncertainty about the question what bulbs 
will thrive in the grass and what will not. Tulipa 
silvestris, for instance, is supposed to be an excellent 
grass plant; but the present writer finds that it ceases 
to flower and dwindles away in the grass after a year 
or two. Tulips in this respect are peculiarly uncertain. 
It is probable that those which require great summer 
heat to ripen them off are kept too cool by a covering 
of grass; but this scarcely applies to T. silvestris, 
which is a native species. It is to be desired that some 
one should make large experiments with Tulips in the 
grass and should publish the results; but few gardeners 
would care to sacrifice a great number of bulbs for 
the public good. Grape Hyacinths of all kinds seem 
to thrive even in coarse grass, so do Ornithogalum 
umbellatum, O. nutans, and O. pyramidale. Scilla 
sibirica is apt to dwindle in coarse grass, and so are 
the Chionodoxas and Pushkinia libanotica. The more 
vigorous Alliums will thrive in grass not too coarse 
and in full sun. A. neapolitanum will soon be in 
flower. Fritillaria Meleagris, of course, is at home 



80 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

in the grass. There appears to be a common idea 
that it will grow only in the Thames valley and other 
particular localities; but it is quite an easy plant in 
most places, where the soil is not too hot and poor. 
The Crown Imperial (F. imperialis) will grow in the 
grass only where the soil is rich and rather heavy. 
It dwindles after a year or two in a light soil and re- 
fuses to flower. It would be an interesting experi- 
ment to sow a patch of ground with some short moun- 
tain grass and plant several tufts of Gentiana acaulis 
in it. They might thrive; and then, again, they might 
not. This plant is one of the most capricious in exis- 
tence. Last year it flowered profusely even in poor 
soils. This year it is more flowerless than usual. It 
will prosper like a weed in some places, and in others, 
with apparently the same conditions, it will do nothing. 
The old idea was that it ought to be left alone; but 
this treatment is of no avail where the crowns grow 
smaller and smaller. The best plan in such a case is 
to dig it up in wet weather, in spring, and to plant 
each separate crown with plenty of space to itself. 
It ought to be coming into flower now, and with some 
lucky gardeners perhaps it is. With the present writer 
it is not. 



PINKS 

PINKS are common enough in our gardens, yet 
they are not grown so much or so well as they 
might be, and the florists are so taken up with carna- 
tions that they have rather neglected the possibilities 
of the pink. No doubt carnations are worthy of all 
the pains that have been spent upon them; no pinks 
can compare with them in variety of colour, and few 
in duration of flowering period. But carnations ex- 
act much care and skill if they are to be grown really 
well, and need to be constantly renewed; whereas 
many pinks ask for nothing but a sunny place and a 
well-drained soil to thrive for years without attention. 
Carnations, too, often need to be carefully staked; 
and this is a grave defect in a plant of so low a stature, 
and one from which most pinks, especially the natural 
species, are entirely free. The chief beauty of the 
best pinks is their habit of growth. They are beauti- 
ful in winter as well as in summer, and they bear their 
flowers as if they were a joy and not a burden to them. 
Most of them will endure any amount of drought and 
can be propagated most easily by seed, cuttings, or 
division. All that they need to make them perfect 
garden plants is a longer flowering period, a greater va- 
riety of colour, and in some cases rather larger flowers. 
Now, different species or varieties have all these vir- 

81 



82 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

tues. What is needed is to combine tliem all in one 
plant; and, since most species hybridize very readily, 
there seems to be no reason why this should not be 
done. Already there are some new pinks appearing 
with large, single, and bright-coloured flowers; and 
there are others with double flowers that blossom al- 
most as long as carnations. What we want is a new 
race of single flowering pinks, of compact habit, vigorous 
constitution, large brilliant flowers, and a long period 
of bloom. Vigour of constitution is a most important 
point, and one too often overlooked in the development 
of the carnation. Unfortunately, the pink v/hich 
flowers longest and has the largest and most brilliant 
flowers, Dianthus sinensis, and its fine variety, D. 
Heddewigii, is not a true perennial; and varieties 
which have a strain of its blood in them are apt to 
be delicate. It has been conjectured that there is a 
strain of D. sinensis in the carnation, which may be 
the reason for its comparative delicacy, and also in 
some of the mule pinks, which are beautiful plants 
but need to be constantly renewed by cuttings. In 
time, however, the better qualities of D. Heddewigii 
might be combined with the virtues of the most vigor- 
ous natural species. 

There are already, of course, many beautiful garden 
pinks; but most of them have double flowers and 
bloom for only a short season. The florists of the 
past took great pains to produce pinks very precisely 
laced or edged. They were dominated by the rules 
and standards of flower-shows; but, now that the 



PINKS 83 

pink has ceased to be a fashionable show flower, there 
is some chance of its more rational development. 
The material out of which it can be developed is very 
varied. There is a great number of wild species of 
pinks, many of them most valuable garden plants, 
and most of them quite easy to grow. It is of these 
that we propose to speak in some detail, since they 
are less known to the ordinary gardener than they 
ought to be, and since the florist makes less use of 
them than he should. Unfortunately there is a great 
deal of confusion about their names, due, no doubt, 
to the extreme readiness with which they hybridize. 
It is difficult to distinguish species from varieties, 
and the same pink has often different names in different 
nurserymen's catalogues. 

Dianthus plumarius is the best known of all the 
natural species and the parent of most garden pinks. 
It is very variable and hybridizes readily with other 
species. If a number of plants are raised from seed, 
very probably not two will be exactly alike in their 
flowers or in their habit. The type has fringed flowers 
of a pinlc colour slightly tinged with mauve. The 
best plan is to raise it from seed and to keep only the 
best plants. Seedlings are sometimes neat and com- 
pact in growth, sometimes straggling. Their flowers 
vary in size, colour, and shape. The amateur who 
will persevere in raising seed year after year from his 
best specimens may in time come to have some very 
fine plants. D. plumarius will thrive anywhere in 
full sun and well-drained soil, and is particularly use- 



84 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

ful for covering dry, sunny banks. It can be raised 
from seed, sown either when ripe or in spring, with 
the greatest ease, and will usually seed itself pro- 
fusely. For this reason, and because of Its rapid 
growth, it Is not a plant for the small rockery, but it 
can be grown just as easily in the border as the ordi- 
nary garden pinks. 

Dianthus cseslus (the Cheddar pink) is also variable 
and hybridizes very readily with D. plumarlus and 
other pinks. The type is very tufted and low grow- 
ing. The leaves are glaucous green, the flowers of a 
bright pink, and irregularly indented. It is a lime- 
stone plant and thrives best among rocks in a rubbly 
soil or in a wall. It is apt to die in the winter on the 
level, but lives long and often grows to a considerable 
size in chinks of a rough stone wall. It is an excellent 
rock garden plant, as it does not spread too quickly. 
All it needs is a high and dry place in full sun. It 
can be raised very easily from seed; but seedlings 
usually vary a good deal, and, if the seed is bought, 
they often bear little resemblance to the type. In- 
deed, the species hybridizes so readily that it is not 
likely to come true from seed unless the seed Is saved 
from plants Isolated from other pinks. Some of the 
hybrids, however, are very beautiful, having the 
close tufted habit of the species and larger and even 
brighter flowers. With this plant, too, it should be 
easy to get some fine varieties by saving seed year 
after year from the best specimens. 

Dianthus deltoides, the Maiden Pink, is a pretty 



PINKS 85 

plant and a native of England. It has leaves that are 
not glaucous like those of most pinks, but bright 
green, and pink flowers with darker spots. There is a 
very pretty white variety, one with brighter flowers, 
and one with glaucous leaves. D. deltoides is very 
easily grown in any light soil, and seeds itself pro- 
fusely. The white variety comes fairly true from 
seed. It should be grown in great masses in a large 
space to itself, where it can seed freely. In a small 
rock garden the seedlings encroach too much. The 
plant commonly called Dianthus fragrans is really 
a variety of D. plumarius with white, very sweet- 
scented, flowers. The double variety has a scent of 
overpowering sweetness, and is a very beautiful plant. 
The true D. fragrans is very rare. Dianthus mons- 
pessulanus is a closely tufted pink with dark glaucous 
foliage. It has large fringed pink flowers, very fragrant. 
It is easily grown among rocks in light soil with some 
leaf mould in it, and prefers limestone. 

Dianthus arenarius and D. petraeus are plants 
about the names of which there seems to be some 
uncertainty, at least among nurserymen. The plants 
usually sold under these names have very narrow 
grassy leaves, a very tufted habit, and white fringed 
flowers. According to M. Correvon the species both 
have pink flowers, but the plants usually sold may be 
merely white varieties. In any case they are charm- 
ing, and will grow in the driest and hottest places. 
In fact, they are suitable for the very top of the rockery, 
where they will spread into carpets as thick and even 



86 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

as turf. The poorer the soil the better they flower. 
In a rich soil they are apt to run all to leaf and to 
damp off in the winter. 

D. noeanus is a new and very pretty plant, growing 
in close tufts which do not spread to any great size. 
It has elaborately fringed white flowers, and is, per- 
haps, the only pink with a disagreeable scent. It 
should be raised from seed and grown among rocks 
in poor soil. 

Dianthus alpestris is a pretty little pink, easily 
grown among rocks, with bright pink fringed flow- 
ers, not more than 6 in. high. The true Dianthus 
suavis appears to be a variety of D. plumarius, but a 
beautiful pink with very delicate white flowers is 
sometimes sold under this name, and also under the 
name of D. gallicus. The writer does not know its 
true name, but it appears to be a species, as both in 
growth and in flower it is very distinct from all other 
pinks. The true Dianthus gallicus has pink spotted 
flowers, and is usually not perennial in our climate. 

Dianthus sylvestris is a fine pink, which, in spite of 
its name, likes full sun. It does not spread much 
like other pinks, but grows in a single close tuft of 
thin dark green leaves. The flowers are bright pink, 
and the stems are rather weak and apt to lie about 
on the ground. This is the only defect of the plant, 
which is easily grown in dry, hot gardens. Dianthus 
superbus has flowers unlike those of any other pink. 
They are pale flesh colour, with greenish-yellow spots, 
and most elaborately fringed and curled. The leaves 



PINKS 87 

are rather broader than those of most pinks. D. 
superbus is not a true perennial, but is worth grow- 
ing, as it can be raised very easily from seed, and will 
thrive on the north side of a rockery in a dry place. 
Unlike most pinks, it seems to like a certain amount 
of shade and grows in woody places in its native 
land. 

There are several pinks with their flowers in clusters 
like those of the Sweet William, and some of them 
are well worth growing. Dianthus atrorubens and 
D. cruentus, both with small flowers of a very deep 
crimson, are among the best. They will thrive in any 
sunny place, and are rather border than rock garden 
plants. D. carthusianorum has paler flowers, and is 
not so pretty, though pretty enough. D. giganteus, 
the tallest of pinks, will grow more than a yard high, 
but the flowers are small in proportion to the height. 
It is scarcely worth growing except as a curiosity. 
D. Knappii is a pretty clustered pink with pale yellow 
flowers. It should be grown on the rockery, where 
its culture is easy. All of these are easily raised from 
seed, which can be obtained without difficulty. D. 
cinnabarinus, however, which has clustered flowers 
of a curious cinnabar red colour, is one of the rarest 
of all pinks, and at times goes out of cultivation al- 
together. It comes from Greece and is not very 
perennial in England. This fact, since it often fails 
to ripen seed, accounts partly for its rarity. Other- 
wise it is easily grown, and worth growing for its 
curious beauty. 



88 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

None of the pinks which we have mentioned are at 
all difficult to grow. There are, however, one or two 
high Alpine species which require some care, and one, 
D. glaciahs, which is so difficult as to be scarcely 
worth attempting in England. 

The most beautiful of the higher Alpine species is, 
perhaps, D. neglectus. It can be distinguished from 
all other pinks by the pale yellow colour of the under- 
side of its petals, which are otherwise of an extraor- 
dinarily brilliant pink. The leaves are grassy and 
short and grow in close tufts; they also are not quite 
evergreen, like those of most pinks, but almost wither 
up in the winter. D. neglectus is not really difficult 
to grow. It should be planted tight in chinks between 
the rocks, in a soil consisting mainly of mortar rubble, 
with a little leaf-mould and sandy loam. It roots 
deeply, and when established does not suffer from 
drought, if rocks are all round the roots. It can be 
easily raised from seed, and this is the best way to 
grow it, as the plants become enervated if they are 
kept too long in frames. The seed should be sown 
when ripe or in spring in pans of light, gritty soil, 
and the seedlings planted out into their permanent 
homes as soon as possible. D. neglectus likes the 
fullest sun, and is the most brilliant coloured of all 
wild pinks, and one of the most brilliant coloured of 
all Alpines. It appears to hybridize pretty readily, 
and one sometimes sees seedling forms with all the 
beauty of the type, but more vigorous and larger in 
all respects. There seems to be no reason why a very 



PINKS 89 

brilliant race of pinks should not be obtained by 
crossing it with other and stronger species. 

Dianthus alpinus is a very distinct pink, perfectly 
prostrate, with green leaves rather broad for their 
size and more like those of D. deltoides than of any 
other pink. The flowers, which rise only about 2 in. 
above the ground, are bright pink, spotted in the 
centre, and very large for the plant. D. alpinus 
is more difficult to grow than D. neglectus, as it is 
impatient of drought in summer and also of damp in 
winter. It cannot be grown in a very narrow chink 
of the rocks, as it throws out runners and requires 
room to increase in. This makes it the more difficult 
to protect from drought. It should be planted on flat 
pockets rather low down in the rockery, with a south- 
west or south-east aspect and surrounded with small 
rocks half sunk in the soil, with a larger rock on the 
north side of it for its roots to run under. The smaller 
rocks around it will give it a certain amount of shade. 
The soil should be deep and should consist of one- 
third mortar rubble, one-third leaf mould, and one- 
third fibrous loam, all well mixed up together. It 
must be watered in hot weather, and top-dressed with 
leaf mould when first starting into growth in the 
spring. With these conditions it is not difficult to 
grow, though it is not a very long-lived plant. It can, 
however, be very easily raised from seed, which usually 
ripens in England, and should be sown as soon as 
ripe or in early spring. It can also be increased by 
cuttings. When plants appear to be failing they 



90 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

will often recover if moved; and this should be done 
in spring. There is a pretty white variety, and the 
type appears to hybridize readily, but no valuable 
hybrids have been obtained yet. 

Dianthus callizonus is, perhaps, only a local variety 
of D. alpinus, but it is a distinct and even more beau- 
tiful plant, with glaucous leaves and brilliant pink 
speckled flowers. It should be treated like D. alpinus 
and does not seem to be any more difficult. It is still 
very rare. Dianthus glacialis is too difficult, perhaps, 
to be worth growing in England. At any rate, it is 
scarcely ever seen in English gardens. It needs the 
same culture as D. alpinus, except that it will not 
endure lime, and must be even more carefully pro- 
tected from drought in the summer. The true plant 
is seldom to be obtained in England; and hybrids or 
other species are usually sold for it. 

D. Freynii is the smallest of all pinks, with little 
pink flowers. It should be grown like D. neglectus, 
and is not more difficult. There is a very beautiful 
minute mountain pink with large white fringed flowers, 
which is sometimes sold as D. squarrosus. The true 
D. squarrosus, however, is a much larger plant, of 
no particular beauty or interest. The present writer 
is ignorant of the true name of the white pink in ques- 
tion, and it is seldom seen in English gardens. It has 
very minute grassy leaves, and the flowers are borne 
about Sj in. above them. It requires the same cul- 
ture as D. neglectus, but is easier to grow. There are 
many more species of pinks, but many of them are 



PINKS 91 

mucli alike and probably only varieties. The whole 
genus requires to be thoroughly overhauled by a com- 
petent authority. 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF GARDEN 
FLOWERS 

THE first article upon this subject provoked 
some controversy, but it also elicited more ex- 
pressions of agreement than the writer had expected. 
It seems to be clear that the taste in flowers is chang- 
ing; that a great many gardeners are no longer con- 
tented merely with large blossoms; that we are 
learning to look at a plant as a whole, and not to 
think of it only as a flower-producing machine. A 
writer in one paper, disagreeing violently with the 
article in question, said that it was worse than use- 
less to set up principles of taste, since they were sure 
to be wrong or else to be misapplied. It did not ap- 
parently occur to him that all selection or improve- 
ment of flowers must be based upon some principle 
of taste or other. Otherwise it would be quite random 
and objectless. The issue is not between principles 
of taste and no principles, but between one principle 
and another. Now, the development of a great many 
garden flowers has been controlled by the principle 
that a plant is a flower-producing machine and that 
every part of it except the flower is mere surplusage. 
The ideal of this development would be reached in 
a plant that came up like a mushroom, leafless, and 

92 



IMPROVEMENT OF GARDEN FLOWERS 93 

with a little stalk, and a huge flower at the top of it, 
and which continued to do this through all the flower- 
ing months of the year. This ideal has almost been 
reached in some double Begonias and in the dwarfest 
Snapdragons, and if you wish to have your garden 
all flowers these are the kinds of plants you should 
grow. Now, there certainly are a good many people 
who wish to have their gardens all flowers; and the 
idea that a garden plant should be grown only for 
its flowers is very deep-rooted. The present writer 
has heard of a rich man whose orders to his gardener 
were that his beds and borders should never contain 
any plants not in flower. A vast army of plants in 
pots was kept in the background, and these were bedded 
out just as they were coming into blossom and re- 
moved as soon as their blossom was over. 

Now, it is obvious that this kind of gardening is 
very expensive, and, further, that it prevents "the 
growing of many beautiful plants which cannot be 
treated in this way, or which, if treated in this way, 
never show their true beauty. But that is not the 
point which we wish to make for the moment. Very 
expensive gardening may be beautiful, and there are 
plenty of fine plants which can be turned out of pots 
when about to bloom without spoiling their beauty. 
Our point is that a garden all flowers is not so beautiful 
as one in which there is plenty of greenery to contrast 
with the flowers. Most people agree with this up to 
a point, but they do not carry the principle far enough. 
Even the gardener who likes his beds to be all flowers 



94 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

likes them to blaze against a foil of green turf. But 
he does not understand that the contrast of greenery 
is most beautiful when it is most closely interwoven 
with the flowers themselves, both by means of the 
intermixture of flowering plants with plants out of 
flower, and also by means of the leafage of a plant 
that is in flower. For it is only such a closely inter- 
woven contrast that displays the full beauty of in- 
dividual flowers and also of individual plants. In a 
bed of Geraniums or Begonias, grown for their blaze 
of colour, it is the colour alone that we see and think 
of. The individual plants, the individual flowers, 
are nothing. The beauty of the arrangement may 
be considerable — it is absurd to pretend that all bed- 
ding out is ugly — but it is a beauty only of masses 
of strong colour, without form and, above all, without 
character. Now no beauty interests us for long un- 
less it has character. We cannot in pictures produce 
a beauty that satisfies by means of mere abstractions. 
The purely decorative picture, the picture that con- 
sists merely of an arrangement of forms and colours, 
as nearly abstract as the painter can make them and 
put together to make an agreeable pattern — a pic- 
ture of this kind pleases at the first glance very likely; 
but our interest in it is quickly exhausted, because 
there is no character in its component parts. So 
there is no character in the individual plants of a 
flower-bed that is intended merely to produce a blaze 
of colour; and in the same way our interest in such 
a bed is exhausted after the first glance. A great 



IMPROVEMENT OF GARDEN FLOWERS 95 

picture is full of splendid harmonies and contrasts; 
but the objects harmonized and contrasted are not 
mere abstractions. They are people and things which 
the painter has seen, and they are woven together 
into a pattern, without losing their own individuality, 
by the controlling emotion of the artist who uses 
them, not merely as pieces in a decorative game, 
but as a means of expressing that emotion. Now, 
gardening is, no doubt, a trivial art compared with 
painting, but still it is an art, or may be made one; 
and the same principles apply to it. The true art of 
gardening is based upon a profound interest and de- 
light in plants, just as the art of the great painter is 
based upon a profound interest and delight in the 
things which he represents. The true gardener is 
concerned with the character of his plants as the 
great painter is concerned with the character of what 
he paints; and it is by growing his plants so that 
they display their character as freely and completely 
as possible that the gardener makes the most beau- 
tiful and interesting kind of garden. 

Now it is obvious that this cannot be done by a 
gardener who regards a plant as a mere flower-pro- 
ducing machine; for the flowers are only part of the 
character of a plant, and they may be so developed 
as to obscure the plant's natural character altogether. 
Flowers may be, and in most gardens plants are, the 
most important element of beauty; but their beauty 
is not independent of the plant, and cannot be con- 
sidered apart from it until they are picked. The gar- 



96 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

dener who grows his plants only for their flowers 
thinks always of the flowers as if they were picked, 
and of his beds and borders as huge nosegays; and 
the kind of gardening which removes a plant as soon 
as it goes out of bloom is more like the arranging of 
flowers for the dinner table than like true gardening. 
It is a purely decorative art without the deep and 
satisfying beauty of character. This kind of beauty 
is what delights us so much in nature and what often 
seems to be utterly beyond the gardener's attainment. 
Wild plants, we should remember, do not grow for 
their flowers alone. They have to fight for their lives, 
and every part of the plant bears a part in the struggle. 
We are not suggesting that plants in a garden ought 
to fight for their lives. It is the gardener's first duty 
to eliminate the struggle for existence; but he must 
never forget that the character of plants has been 
produced by that struggle, and that their beauty is 
always dependent upon their character. He can often 
improve upon that beauty, because he has eliminated 
the struggle for existence. He can often, to begin with, 
grow his plants much better than nature grows them. 
He can in many cases enlarge their flowers with ad- 
vantage, and brighten their colour. But while he 
does this he should always think of every plant as a 
whole, of its natural character, and of the right pro- 
portion between its leaves and its flowers. 

At once, of course, there arises the question how 
are we to decide upon the right proportion between 
leaves and flowers; and here comes in the question 



IMPROVEMENT OF GARDEN FLOWERS 97 

of principles of taste. If we are to grow plants for 
their flowers alone, the flowers should be as large as 
we can make them and the leaves as small. If the 
leaves are not to be seen for the flowers so much the 
better. But if we are to consider the natural char- 
acter of each individual plant, then we should take care 
that the flowers are not so large as to obscure that nat- 
ural character, and in particular to interfere with the 
plant's natural habit of growth. If a wild plant bears 
its flowers on strong upright stalks, we should not make 
these flowers so heavy that the stalks cannot support 
them without being staked. If a wild plant bears 
large flowers and has a compact habit of growth, we 
should not dwarf it till it looks like a hunchback. If 
the flowers naturally have great beauty of form, we 
should not double them so as to destroy that beauty 
on the chance of obtaining another beauty of colour. 
To object to all double flowers would be pedantic. 
There are many plants that depend for their flowering 
beauty upon a mass of blossom, and it may often be 
increased and prolonged by doubling as in the case 
of the double Arabis, the double Genista tinctoria, 
and the double Silene maritima. In other cases the 
beauty of the flower is in colour rather than in form; 
and the colour may often be intensified by doubling 
as with the Dahlia, the Carnation, many Roses, and 
most Chrysanthemums. There are certain forms of 
flowers that are obviously unsuited to doubling; others 
that can often be improved by it. Thus bell-shaped 
flowers, such as those of most Campanulas, or trumpet- 



98 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

shaped flowers, such as those of most Lilies, are pretty 
sure to be spoilt by doubling — and, indeed, doubling, 
in the ease of these, seems to be against nature. There 
is no reason in the nature of things why the bell of 
Campanula persicifolia should be stuffed up with 
inner layers of petals. On the other hand, the outer 
ring of florets of most composite flowers is often in- 
creased when they grow wild in favourable conditions, 
and such an increase does no violence to the whole 
structure of the plant. So a good many composite 
flowers have been doubled without spoiling their 
beauty. But, even in the case of composite flowers, 
the doubling has been carried too far. Thus double 
Daisies have a pleasant, precise, old-fashioned kind 
of beauty; we have all loved them in our childhood 
and, therefore, we continue to love them still. But 
in a batch of seedling Daisies, all intended to be double, 
there will often occur single forms more beautiful than 
any double ones. These are usually plucked up and 
thrown away, since the gardener regards the single 
Daisy as a weed and the double alone as a garden 
flower. But there is no reason whatever why the 
single Daisy should not be developed into one of the 
most beautiful of all spring flowers, with large white 
or pink or crimson florets and with a shining golden 
centre. Even then it would not probably be more 
beautiful than the wild Daisy, but it would be more 
conspicuous. 

Thus in the case of doubling there are principles 
that could be applied pretty easily in most cases. 



IMPROVEMENT OF GARDEN FLOWERS 99 

In some, of course, it would be difficult to say whether 
a plant would be the better or the worse for being 
doubled. Wherever there is a doubt it would be wise 
not to double it. There are so many other ways in 
which plants can be developed with a certainty of 
improvement. They can usually be made more vigor- 
ous; their colour can often be made brighter and 
purer. In some cases their habit is the better for being 
more compact. Thus some of the hybrid Larkspurs 
are finer plants in all respects than any of the species. 
The new garden varieties of Phlox decussata are in- 
finitely superior in colour to any of the older ones; 
some of the hybrid Pentstemons have a beauty and 
variety of colour and a vigour of growth far beyond 
any to be found in the species from which they have 
been produced; and the Tufted Pansies or Violas as 
they are commonly called, have both combined and 
improved out of all knowledge all the good qualities of 
Viola tricolor and Viola cornuta, which were their far 
distant wild ancestors. But in all these cases there has 
been no attempt to pervert or to conceal the natural 
character of the plants. The flowers may have been 
enlarged, but not so that their stalks cannot support 
them. The habit may have been made more compact, 
but it has not, except, perhaps, in a few Phloxes, been 
dwarfed into deformity. 

The eye may be trained in its appreciation of flowers, 
as of most other beautiful things; but it must be 
trained on a principle; and the only sure principle is 
that every plant be always considered as a whole, and 



100 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

that its natural character be always borne in mind. 
It is a significant fact that the monstrous flowers have 
usually been produced in those plants which are 
treated in gardens in the least natural way — that is 
to say, in bedding plants, especially Begonias. On the 
other hand, in the case of plants which are usually 
grown naturally development has in most cases meant 
improvement. The florists have produced more new 
varieties of the Daffodil of late years than of any other 
flower. But their changes have been nearly all im- 
provements, and the Daffodil is a plant that nearly 
every one grows in a natural way, except when it is 
forced or in the case of very expensive new varieties. 
Thus the improvers of Daffodils usually have the 
whole plant in their minds, whereas the improvers of 
Begonias think only of their flowers. There can be 
no doubt that the practice of rock gardening has im- 
proved the general taste in flowers, for tricks cannot 
be played upon Alpine plants; they have to be grown 
as far as possible in their natural conditions, and their 
beauty is peculiarly the beauty of character, a beauty 
produced by the strange conditions in which they 
maintain their struggle for life. The gardener who 
once learns to love this beauty gets a keener apprecia- 
tion of the character of all other plants. He likes to 
see them growing as if they were self-sown seedlings, 
and he is impatient of any florist's development or of 
any system of culture which deprives them of char- 
acter. Character, in plants as in men, is produced 
by struggle and by adaptation. In the garden both 



IMPROVEMENT OF GARDEN FLOWERS 101 

the struggle and the need for adaptation are much 
lessened, the result of which is that astonishing changes 
can be worked upon many plants since they are re- 
lieved from the continuous even pressure of necessity. 
But if these plants are transformed so that they lose 
the character stamped upon them by their adaptation 
to natural circumstances, then they lose also the most 
significant part of their beauty, and look like manu- 
factured rather than living things. There are some 
people, of course, who like a flower to look manufac- 
tured, and in its artificiality see a proof of their own 
power over nature. This desire to make a thing look 
different from what it is, just for the sake of showing 
the maker's skill, is the cause of much bad art of all 
kinds. It is the cause of nearly all bad art in the 
garden. 



CHEAP GARDENING 

CHEAPNESS is a relative term in everything, and 
particularly in gardening, since a Daffodil bulb 
may cost anything from a farthing to fifty guineas. 
There is no doubt that gardening can be a very ex- 
pensive amusement, now that it has become fashion- 
able and millionaires have their rock gardens as well 
as their motor-cars. Luckily, however, the expensive 
gardens are not always the best. Indeed, very often 
they are the worst. In gardening it is not the plant 
that counts so much as the gardener; and very often 
the plant that costs a guinea is no more beautiful than 
the plant that costs nothing. Gardening may be 
cheaper as well as more expensive than it has ever 
been, provided the gardener is ready to take a little 
trouble and to exercise a little self-denial. 

Mr. W. P. Wright has lately published a book 
("Beautiful Gardens") in which he makes it his ob- 
ject to show how a beautiful garden may be cheaply 
made and maintained, and in his preface he deplores 
the expensiveness of modern gardening. But, after 
all, it does not matter very much to the true gardener. 
He can console himself with the thought that all the 
costly novelties, if they are good for anything, will 
probably be cheap some day; and if it were not that 
there are people ready to give large sums for them, 

102 



CHEAP GARDENING 103 

these novelties would never, perhaps, be produced. 
Mr. Wright complains, too, that the writers of most 
gardening books assume the costliness of gardening. 
He will not assume it; and yet he mentions a good many 
costly plants in his book, or at least plants that will 
seem costly to the man who really wishes to garden 
cheaply on a fairly large scale. Mr. Wright may urge 
that he only mentions such plants in case his readers 
may wish for a few luxuries. But the gardener who 
wants an abundance of flowers, and wants them cheap, 
will not be able to afford even a few luxuries. Those 
who have only a slip of garden with one small border 
and one bit of rockwork on it may afford, now and 
again, to pay half-a-crown for a Lily or Daffodil bulb. 
But those who have two or three acres of garden and 
wish to make them all flowery at a small cost cannot 
do this even once in a way. Their first problem will 
be to get cheap plants. Their next to economize in 
labour and manure. There are plants which need a 
great deal of manure in most soils, and others which 
need careful watering in hot weather, even though 
they may in some cases be cheap to buy. There are 
bulbs which need to be lifted and dried off, and others 
which, however well treated, soon die out in most 
English gardens. There are shrubs, too, which must 
be protected in hard winters. There are carnations 
that must be constantly renewed by means of layers. 
There are bedding plants that need a greenhouse in 
the mnter, and exact all the labour of shifting them 
into the greenhouse and out of it again. All of these 



104 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

will have to be avoided, or very sparingly used, by 
the man who wishes to garden cheaply and who is 
not prepared to spend a great deal of his own time 
upon his garden. For him the labour problem will 
be more difficult, perhaps, than even the problem of 
stocking his garden; and yet both may be solved by 
means of a little knowledge and discretion. 

In the first place, the man who wishes to have a 
cheap garden must take the line of least resistance. 
He must find out what plants grow well in his garden 
naturally; and he must confine himself mainly to 
these. If he lives on a light, sandy soil, he must not 
grow plants that need much moisture and nourish- 
ment, for it will cost him money to supply them. 
If he lives on a stiff clay, he must avoid plants that 
will only flourish in clay if it is lightened and made 
porous with grit and leaf -mould. Directly he tries 
to fight with nature he will find that his bill for labour 
and for manure goes up. He must make it his object 
to humour nature; and, if he is a true gardener, he 
will find a peculiar pleasure and interest in doing 
that. The rich man or the man who has plenty of 
leisure may delight in overcoming nature; yet just as 
much skill may be exercised by the gardener who is 
busy and not rich in obeying her. But he must exer- 
cise some self-denial; and in particular he must cure 
himself of that itch for novelties which attacks all 
keen gardeners at some time in their career, and from 
which many never recover. Mr. Wright is inclined 
to think that the love of novelties is a vulgar passion; 



CHEAP GARDENING 105 

that the rich man buys a costly new plant only to 
show that he can afford it. But good gardeners are 
not apt to be vulgarians, and nearly all of them love 
novelties and, if they can, pursue them in spite of a 
hundred disappointments. And yet this passion can 
be tamed by philosophy, as the present writer has 
discovered; and other and, perhaps, manlier passions 
can be nourished to take its place. Philosophy, based 
upon experience, admonishes the gardener that some 
novelties are not novelties at all and that others 
have nothing but their newness and costliness to 
recommend them. It also comforts him with the 
thought that, as we have said, most novelties, if they 
are worth having, will soon grow cheap. There are, 
it is true, some bulbs which have to be collected 
in their native homes every year, and which, being 
rare even then, never become very cheap. But there 
is always a chance that some year the collector will 
find a multitude of them, and that they will suddenly 
drop in price. Very likely they will soon rise again; 
but it is chances of this kind that make catalogues 
more exciting to read than any novel, and catalogues 
cost nothing. Anyhow the pursuit of novelties is 
sure to cause as much disappointment as delight; 
for the writers of catalogues have sanguine imagina- 
tions that take fire at a hint. They are ready to be- 
lieve all that the collectors tell them; and they do 
not spoil a tale in repeating it. Thus many novelties 
that flower so amazingly in the catalogues make but 
a poor show in the garden, and after one year's trial 



106 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

are described as "suitable only for botanical collec- 
tions"; which means that the ordinary gardener 
throws them on the rubbish heap if he cannot give 
them away to a friend. 

It is by considerations of this kind that the hunger 
for novelties may be tamed. But even the poor gar- 
dener is not cut off from them altogether, for he can 
often buy their seeds cheaply enough; and then, if 
they turn out to be rubbish, he can throw them away 
with the consolation that he has spent little upon 
them except the labour of raising them. Seeds, in- 
deed, are the mainstay of the poor gardener. If he 
will only raise his plants from seed, he can soon stock 
a large garden with beautiful flowers at the cost of a 
few shillings; and if he has a piece of spare ground 
which he can use for the trial of seedlings, in a few 
years by judicious selection he will be able to raise for 
himself specimens of many plants as fine as the finest 
florists' varieties, and even finer, for he will be able 
to consult his own taste in the development of them. 
It is strange, indeed, how few people raise perennial 
plants from seed; and the only explanation can be 
that it never occurs to them to do so. They are ready 
to spend time and trouble in raising annuals and 
biennials, because it is the custom; but they are in 
the habit of buying perennial plants, and they con- 
tinue to do so, although many of them can be raised 
from seed just as easily as any biennial, and will flower 
just as soon after the seeds are sown. One could make 
a long list of perennial plants that every one ought 



CHEAP GARDENING 107 

to grow from seed. But a few of them will suffice for 
examples. Larkspurs, Columbines, Hollyhocks, Pan- 
sies. Campanula persicifolia, C. carpatica, C. lacti- 
flora, nearly all the perennial Flaxes, Catananche, 
Lychnis Haageana, Oenothera macrocarpa, Anchusa 
italica, Coreopsis lanceolata. Geranium grandiflorum 
and other Cranesbills, Gypsophila paniculata, Pent- 
stemons and Scabiosa Caucasica. Many of these, if 
sown as soon as the seed is ripe, will flower the next 
year like biennials. All or nearly all will flower the 
next year, if sown in spring; and all can be raised 
from seed without any difficulty. But even those 
gardeners who do raise perennials from seed often take 
more trouble than they need, and with worse results 
than a simpler method would produce. It is common, 
for instance, for Hollyhocks to be raised from seed 
in frames and to be moved at least twice before they 
find their permanent quarters. The finest plants of 
Hollyhocks are those which have never been dis- 
turbed since the seed was sown in the ground. The 
best and easiest way of growing them, therefore, is 
to sow two or three seeds where the plant is wanted to 
grow, and when they are well up to pull up all but one 
of them. It is not easy to treat Snapdragons thus, 
because their seed is much smaller than that of Holly- 
hocks. But there is no need to raise them in boxes 
or frames. The best plan is to sow them out of doors 
towards the end of April. They will come up in hun- 
dreds, and can be shifted to their permanent quarters 
any time after a good downpour of rain. Pentstemons, 



108 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

again, may be sown in boxes out of doors in May. 
They can be pricked out as soon as they are large 
enough into a reserve bed, and planted into their 
permanent quarters the next spring. Young plants 
that have not flowered will not usually suffer even 
from hard winters in fairly light soils, and, in any 
case, it is not diflScult to give them a little protection. 
Of course, it takes more time to raise plants in this 
way than to start them in heat in early spring. Pent- 
stemons, for instance, will flower the same year if 
raised in heat, and so will Hollyhocks and Snapdragons. 
But the open-air method produces healthier plants, 
and costs nothing except the price of the seeds. All 
the perennials mentioned above can be raised from 
seed sown in the open border; but the safest plan with 
most of them, especially where the soil is heavy, is to 
sow the seed in boxes and to place the boxes in a cold 
frame until the seedlings are strong enough to resist 
all caprices of the weather. If this is done it is best 
to sow the seed in April, so that the plants may be 
a good size before the hot weather comes. They 
should be moved into the open air, however, as soon 
as possible, and then put into their permanent quar- 
ters in the autumn, where they will flower the next 
year. When one considers that a single plant of 
Oenothera macrocarpa costs sixpence, whereas fifty 
plants may be raised from a penny packet of seed so 
as to flower the year after sowing, the advantages of 
raising plants from seed are obvious. 

There are some plants, of course, that do not come 



CHEAP GARDENING 109 

true from seed, so that if the gardener wants a par- 
ticular variety he must buy a plant and propagate 
from it by other means to increase his stock. But 
this is usually the case only with plants that have 
been developed by the florists, such as Larkspurs, 
Carnations, and garden Pinks, and Violas or Tufted 
Pansies; and this variableness adds a new interest 
to the raising of plants from seed, if the gardener has 
some spare ground which he can use for trial beds for 
his seedlings. If he does this and selects his seed 
judiciously year by year, he will probably obtain some 
very fine varieties of any plants to which he may give 
particular attention. The trouble of an annual sowing 
of Larkspurs or Columbines or Violas will be very 
small, especially if the seed is sown in the open ground 
when ripe, and the expense will be nil. The gardener 
who saves his own seed will probably have so much 
of it that he will be able to afford the risk of a sowing 
in the open border if his soil is not too heavy; and if 
he sows there, he will be able to leave the plants alone 
until they flower. 

There are some plants that can be so easily in- 
creased by other means that it is scarcely worth while 
to sow seed of them when once a few have been ob- 
tained; and there are also plants, as, for instance, 
most bulbs, which, if raised from seed, take years 
before they flower. But all means of propagation, 
even in the case of plants most easily increased, are 
strangely neglected by many gardeners. Nothing is 
easier, for instance, than to get a large stock from a 



no STUDIES IN GARDENING 

few plants of Tufted Pansies by simply taking off 
little rooted pieces and planting them in a cool place 
in light soil, keeping them well watered until they are 
established. If this is done as early as possible, and 
when the ground is thoroughly wet with rain, the 
offsets will soon make good roots and be strong plants 
ready to plant out in the autumn. This method may 
be employed with most plants that increase by means 
of rooted tufts or offsets, and it is often better than 
division, since it leaves the parent plant undisturbed. 
The main point for a gardener who cannot give much 
time to watering is to choose his opportunity when the 
ground is thoroughly soaked, and to plant his offsets 
where they are not liable to be shrivelled up by too 
hot a sun. The time for taking such offsets must 
vary, of course, with the habit of growth and the 
flowering season of different plants. Thus, if Tufted 
Pansies are cut back after their first flush of bloom they 
will throw up a number of fresh shoots which can be 
readily detached. Michaelmas Daisies, on the other 
hand, since they flower in autumn, and since most of 
them throw out rooted tufts of the greatest vigour in 
all directions, can be simply pulled to pieces and re- 
planted in spring. If this is done every tuft will be 
a strong flowering plant by the autumn. In every 
case the gardener should observe the habits of the 
plant he wishes to increase, and should treat it ac- 
cording to these habits. 

Bulbs, as we have said, usually take a long time 
to flower from seed, often about six years, but many 



CHEAP GARDENING 111 

of them increase rapidly by means of offsets; and this 
means of increase also is often neglected, so that the 
bulbs become crowded and deteriorate. Bulbs that 
are to be increased in this way should be dug up when 
they die down, and the offsets separated from them. 
The main bulbs and the offsets may then be either 
dried off until the autumn or replanted at once. Some 
bulbs — as, for instance, many kinds of Tulips — are 
the better for being dried off every year; others, 
such as English and Spanish Irises and many Nar- 
cissi, like to be dried off occasionally. English gar- 
deners, even those who do not care to spend much 
on their gardens, are apt to be very wasteful with 
bulbs, especially with Tulips used for spring bedding. 
There is a common idea that they will not last in Eng- 
lish gardens. But if they are lifted when they die 
down and then dried off, they will not only last well, 
especially in light soils, but will often increase rapidly. 
The gardener who does not wish to spend much money 
on his bulbs can yet have a fine show of them, at least 
if his soil is fairly light, provided he is prepared to 
take a little care of them and to buy very cheap kinds; 
and luckily there is an abundance of cheap bulbs often 
as beautiful as the dearest. You can give ten shillings 
for a single Tulip bulb, but no Tulips are more beau- 
tiful than Picotee, which costs six shillings a hundred, 
or than Cottage Maid, which costs about four. You 
can give fifty guineas sometimes for a single Daffodil 
bulb; but Barri conspicuus, or Princeps, or John 
Bain, or the Tenby Daffodil cost about five shilHngs 



m STUDIES IN GARDENING 

a hundred, and they ought to be good enough for most 
people; while you can get a thousand of the old Pheas- 
ant-eye for fifteen shillings. You can get a thousand 
Spanish Irises or Crocuses for even less, and Squills 
of many kinds, Chionodoxas, Fritillaries, Allium, 
Dogtooth Violets, Galtonia, many kinds of Gladioli, 
Snowflakes, and of course Snowdrops, Muscari, and 
many less-known bulbs can be bought very cheap. 
There remain Lilies, and most of them are not cheap 
or easy to grow. The poor gardener must do without 
many kinds of Lilies; but he can grow the Madonna 
Lily, the Orange Lily (L. croceum), L. Pyrenaicum, 
yellow and red, L. Davuricum, L. elegans, the Marta- 
gon, the Tiger Lily, and, if he has a moist place in his 
garden, L. pardalinum, L. superbum, and L. Canadense. 
He can also get L. auratum, L. speciosum, and L. 
longiflorum quite cheap at sales; but he will probably 
have to renew them often, and this means labour as 
well as money. 

We have said nothing about Eoses or shrubs in 
general. Many can be bought very cheap; but if 
they are to prosper, the ground must be deeply dug 
and manured beforehand. This costs money, of course; 
but a little preliminary outlay in deep digging and 
manm-ing, though many people are apt to grudge it, 
will always save money in the end. Have your bor- 
ders thoroughly well prepared before you put a plant 
in them, and you will have to spend less afterwards 
on plants and on labour. 



COMMON SENSE IN GARDENING 

GARDENING to the beginner seems to be all 
an arbitrary mystery. Some plants want this, 
he is told, and some that; and he can see no more 
reason for the diversity of their wants than for the 
diversity of their colours. He regards the expert 
gardener as a kind of magician, as one v/ho can make 
all plants thrive by the very way in which he handles 
them, and who knows by instinct what they want. 
Now, it is quite true that the best gardeners do seem 
to have a way of their own with plants, and that they 
will often succeed with a plant they know nothing 
about where an inferior gardener, less ignorant, would 
fail. But they are not born with this gift. They are 
only born with the qualities and interests that en- 
able them to acquire it. The best gardeners are those 
who love plants and who, therefore, are for ever look- 
ing at them; who never pass a cottage garden with- 
out peering into it, who are always learning some- 
thing without effort or design in woods and meadows, 
on moors and mountain sides. In this they are like 
the born painter or Hke the poet in "How it Strikes 
a Contemporary," who watched men for the love of 
watching them. Without this kind of love there can 
be no profound knowledge of anything. Taking notes 
with an object is a useful practice, but it is not the 

113 



114 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

best kind of observation, any more than cramming 
for an examination is the best kind of learning. One 
forgets the notes as soon as one has used them; but 
the laiowledge got by loving observation stays in the 
mind and makes pictures there. It is because chil- 
dren observe disinterestedly that they have such 
long memories; and so disinterested observation is 
the secret of the gardener's, no less than of the poet's 
or painter's, magic. 

But there is reason and method in the magic of all 
arts; and the great gardener's love of plants only 
makes him a great gardener because he turns it into 
science. The passion of observation is what con- 
nects all excellent works of science and art. It makes 
the great artist somethmg of a man of science, and 
the great man of science something of an artist; and 
gardening, in its humble way, is both an art and a 
science, and can only be practised well by the man 
who will learn it as an art and a science. He must 
not only be always observing, but also always experi- 
menting; and it is experiment alone that can make 
his observation profitable just as it is only observation 
that can teach him how to experiment. And the 
more he does of both the more he will be able to use 
his common sense in gardening and to see the reason 
and the system of things. The great defect of most 
professional gardeners is that, however well they 
have been taught a right routine, they do not know 
the reason of it, and therefore cannot apply it to 
things outside their experience. They have learnt 



COMMON SENSE IN GARDENING 115 

what they know as arbitrary and isolated facts, just 
as children learn a number of dates from bad teachers 
of history; and these facts do not help them to learn 
anything new. The best gardeners are those who 
cannot endure that any fact they learn should re- 
main arbitrary and isolated. Every plant is to them 
a living and a reasonable being, and they wish to 
understand it as the poet wishes to understand men. 
They like to know the conditions of its native home 
and to see how those conditions have made its char- 
acter. They like to see how far it is adaptable to the 
ordinary routine of the English garden, and whether 
cultivation will improve it or injure it. 

Now, plants seem to differ in their adaptability in 
the most arbitrary way. Speaking generally, one 
may say that plants which have adapted themselves 
to very abnormal conditions have usually exhausted 
most of their power of adaptation in the process. 
Plants which have learnt to grow among snow and 
ice cannot endure the prosperity of a rich border. 
What is meat to a Rose or a Pseony is poison to them. 
But this is not always so. Some plants that have 
learnt to thrive in adversity will also thrive in a pros- 
perity not too gross; and in the same way there are 
plants which, preferring prosperity, will also put up 
with a good deal of adversity, while there are others 
that will not endure adversity at all. The reasons for 
these differences in adaptability are usually unknown. 
One can only lay down a general rule, that the more 
normal the natural conditions of a plant the greater 



116 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

is its adaptability; and this is a rule of much value 
in practice, although it is broken by many exceptions 
that can be learnt only by experience. 

Every good gardener likes to know the natural 
conditions in which all his plants grow. But he learns 
from experience that he will not always succeed by 
imitating those natural conditions as closely as pos- 
sible, for very often he will not be able to imitate the 
most essential of all, and for lack of that, it may be 
that all his other imitations will be merely mischie- 
vous. There is, for instance, a little creeping plant 
called Nierembergia rivularis, whose native home is 
in marshy places in South America. Most books on 
gardening, therefore, say that it should be treated as 
a bog plant; some that it should be planted in shady 
places. Now it is a plant that comes from a much 
hotter climate than ours, where, no doubt, it likes 
all the moisture it can get. But in England it likes 
all the sun it can get, and has not the same need of 
moisture. In England, according to the present writer's 
experience, it will thrive in fairly rich soil, in a dry 
level place, provided it is watered in the hottest weather; 
but will not endure the cold of a damp place in winter. 
This is an instance of a plant with a considerable 
power of adaptation, which, since we cannot give it 
all its native conditions, would rather have none of 
them complete, but prefers that an average should 
be struck among them; and there are many plants 
like it. 

We have always to remember that gardening is 



COMMON SENSE IN GARDENING 117 

not a natural process. There are very few plants that 
in most gardens can be supplied with exactly the 
conditions of their natural homes; and the aim of 
horticulture is to compensate for the lack of these 
conditions by artificial means. The skilful gardener, 
when he has observed the natural conditions of a 
plant, will always translate them, so to speak, into 
garden terms, when he proceeds to make use of his 
observations. He loiows that most plants, fortunately, 
have a considerable power of adaptation to artificial 
conditions; but he knows, also, what are usually the 
limits of that power, and what artificial conditions are 
necessary to compensate for the lack of natural ones. 
Take, for instance, the case of manure, which is mainly 
an artificial aid to the growth of plants, and which, 
therefore, is used as a substitute for natural con- 
ditions and often as an improvement on them. Farm- 
yard or stable manure has more than one use. It is 
both a plant-food and a means of protection against 
drought. Now, there are many plants that like man- 
ure as a food; but there are also many, particularly 
among bulbs, that do not need it as a food but like 
it as a protection against drought. For such plants 
manure will be unnecessary where they are in no danger 
of suffering from drought. In a garden that lies low 
or has a heavy soil few bulbs need manure; in a gar- 
den that is high and dry many are the better for it. 
But manure, where it is used only as a protection 
against drought, must be applied much more cau- 
tiously than where it is used as a plant food, partic- 



118 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

ularly In the case of bulbs. Most bulbous plants are 
apt to rot if manure touches the bulb itself, and to 
many of them manure is poisonous as a food. It 
should not, therefore, be mixed with the soil about 
the bulb, as it may be mixed with the soil about the 
roots of many gross feeding plants, such as Pansies 
or Poeonies, but should be placed well below the bulb, 
so that the roots will either never reach it or will only 
reach it when they have grown strong and when the 
manure has lost its rankness. There are many plants, 
usually supposed to dislike manure, which are the 
better for it applied thus in light, hot soils. It is a 
common belief, for instance, that all Lilies dislike 
manure, and so the most of them do anywhere near 
the bulb. But in light soils the Madonna Lily, Lilium 
testaceum, L. Chalcedonicum, L. Szovitzianum, L. 
auratum, L. speciosum, L. pardalinum, and L. super- 
bum are all the better for a good layer of well-rotted 
manure placed well below their bulbs, to say nothing 
of easy Lilies like L. tigrinum and L. croceum. The 
manure benefits them not so much as a plant food, 
though some of them are even the better for this^ 
nourishment in moderation, but as an artificial pro- 
tection against drought, since it holds moisture, which 
is drawn upwards towards their roots and bulbs by 
the heat of the sun just when they need it most. Ma- 
nure can be used in this way as a protection against 
drought for many surface-rooting plants which may 
not need it as a food. But the gardener, if he does 
not know for certain whether or not it may be poison- 



COMMON SENSE IN GARDENING 119 

ous to a plant, should be very cautious in his use of 
it. It is quite likely that many Alpine plants would 
be the better for a dose of manure underneath them 
as a protection against drought, if any one could be 
sure that their roots would not reach it. But un- 
fortunately they are apt to root very deeply, partic- 
ularly in search of moisture, and some of them, if 
their roots got down to a layer of manure, would 
quickly die of indigestion; for in their native homes 
they get very little nourishment, and so have come 
to need very little. 

There are many surface-rooting plants, however, 
that like manure both as a food and as a protection 
from drought, and they can be fed with it from above 
as well as from below. Mulching is particularly good 
for surface-rooting plants, since the juices of the 
manure quickly reach their roots and since the manure 
itself on the surface protects them from drought. 
Most surface-rooting plants are the better for some 
kind of nourishment applied from above, especially 
if they are plants that resent being moved into fresh 
soil. Thus Eremuri, which throw out thick roots in 
all directions just under the surface of the soil, will 
often thrive wonderfully where they would otherwise 
seldom flower if they are top-dressed in autumn or 
early spring with rich loam or leaf-mould, or with 
old manure off a hot bed. And in the same way the 
hardy Cypripediums, particularly C. spectabile, the 
roots of which run like a network of whipcord over 
the surface of the soil, should be dressed with rich 



120 STUDIES IN GAEDENING 

loam and leaf-mould once a year. With them this 
is a natural treatment, for in their native homes they 
get a covering of fallen leaves every autumn, wliich 
no doubt, is the reason why their roots come above 
ground. Gardeners are too apt to think that plants 
which do not like manure do not need to be fed in 
any way; and shrubs like Rhododendrons and Aza- 
leas often fail to do well in gardens because their soil 
is never enriched. In their native homes they too 
get an autumn mulch of fallen leaves, and they should 
have it in captivity. A good dressing of leaf-mould 
once a year will feed them and protect them from 
drought. Gardeners, for the sake of neatness, will 
often sweep all slirubberies clear of leaves and never 
remember that they are thereby robbing them of 
their natural nourishment. If the fallen leaves are 
removed they should always be replaced in the form 
of leaf-mould later on. 

This is but common sense in gardening; and the 
whole business of feeding plants should be governed 
by common sense, that is to say, by an understanding 
of every plant's requirements. One of the first things 
that a good gardener seeks to know about a new plant 
is the nature of its roots, and when he knows this he 
can at least conjecture something about its treat- 
ment. He knows, for instance, that a surface-root- 
ing plant is more likely to suffer from drought than 
one that roots deeply. He knows that a plant with a 
single crown and a thick fleshy root is more difficult 
to divide than one with a number of crowns and a 



COMMON SENSE IN GARDENING 121 

network of small fibrous roots. The character of a 
plant's roots will also tell him something about when 
it should be planted, a matter in which many gar- 
deners are curiously unintelligent. As a general rule, 
deep-rooting plants are best moved or divided in the 
autumn, because then their roots have time to re- 
cover and strike down as soon as growth begins in 
the spring. Such plants cannot usually be moved 
without much damage to their roots, and before their 
roots have recovered they are apt to suffer much from 
drought. If they are moved in the spring and if a 
drought follows upon their moving, they will not re- 
cover before the summer heats, and then they will 
live but a miserable life until the next year. Yet one 
finds that many gardeners are just as ready to move 
Oriental Poppies in April as Pansies; and if the Pop- 
pies remain miserable, stunted, and half withered 
tufts all the summer, the gardener regards it as an 
"act of God," not as the result of his own stupidity. 
Of course, if a deep-rooting plant is not very hardy 
it should be planted in the spring, and if it is but a 
a small plant that can be moved with little or no in- 
jury to its roots spring planting will not check its 
growth. On the other hand, surface-rooting plants 
can usually be moved in spring without checking 
their growth at all, and in heavy soils the spring is 
often the best time for planting them, so that they 
may be strong and well-established before they have 
to endure a winter. There are no arbitrary rules about 
the time for planting or dividing. Most plants can be 



122 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

moved at any time of year if only they can be pro- 
tected against drought or cold until they have estab- 
lished themselves. But since it is difficult to do this 
in summer and in winter, the spring and autumn are 
the favourite seasons for planting and division. There 
is a common idea that plants cannot be moved when 
in flower; but this is not always so. It is far better 
to move Gentiana verna or even G. acaulis in full 
flower than in late autumn, because they flower in 
spring, when they can be fairly easily protected from 
drought, and if they are well watered during the 
summer they will be well established before the winter 
comes again. But summer flowering plants suffer 
much if subjected to the double strain of flowering 
and moving in hot weather, especially if they have long 
roots. There are some plants that are best moved 
as soon as possible after they have flowered, so that 
they make good growth before the next year's flower- 
ing. This is the case with German and other Irises 
of the same class, which will usually flower well the 
year after moving if they are moved about a month 
after they have flowered and are well protected from 
drought until they have recovered. The reason of 
this is that they begin to make their growth for next 
year soon after they have flowered, and that this 
growth is interrupted by a move in autumn. Bulbs, 
of course, should be moved when they are at rest; 
but some of them are only at rest for a very short 
time. The Madonna Lily, for instance, begins to make 
new growth in a few weeks after it has died down. 



COMMON SENSE IN GARDENING 123 

Therefore, if it is to be moved at all, it should be moved 
as soon as it has died down; otherwise it will receive 
a check from which it may never recover. 

There are some plants which need to be moved 
pretty often if they are not to deteriorate, and the 
reason for this can generally be found in their habit 
of growth and rooting. Plants which have deep roots 
can often be left for years undisturbed, and often 
suffer for a time even from the most careful shifting. 
On the other hand, plants will increase rapidly with 
a network of surface-rooting runners or suckers, such 
as Sidalcea or most Michaelmas Daisies, are apt to 
exhaust the soil in which they grow, and often need 
to be moved every two years at least. Again, plants 
such as Primroses and Polyanthuses, and many other 
Primulas, which start with a single crown and in a 
year or two break up into several crowns, are usually 
the better for frequent division, as the different crowns 
are really different plants, and crowd each other. A 
plant like Primula denticulata needs to be divided 
every year when it grows strongly, otherwise it will 
soon produce only poor flowers; and this division 
should be done as soon as possible when it has more 
than one crown, so that the plant may recover in time 
to form its flowers for the next year. We have chosen, 
almost at haphazard, a few instances of the applica- 
tion of common sense in gardening, with the object 
of showing that there are obvious reasons for all the 
diversities of treatment which seem so arbitrary to 
the beginner. If he tries to understand the reason of 



124 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

everything that he does, and if he also has a natural 
love of plants, he will in time acquire that habit of 
treating plants rightly which is called the gardener's 
instinct. 



LILIES 

IILIES are perhaps the most capricious of all garden 
J plants. Some are familiar to our gardens and 
easy enough to grow; but even the most familiar 
of all, the Madonna Lily, fails unaccountably some- 
times. Others will thrive in one place, but not in 
another quite near it which seems to offer exactly 
the same conditions. Others, again, will do well 
enough for a year or two, but then are pretty sure to 
dwindle away or die off suddenly; while a few have 
hitherto baffled all the skill of experts. Writers upon 
lilies are apt to make them out to be less difficult than 
they are, and to suggest that we have a more certain 
knowledge of their requirements than we really have. 
The consequence is that enthusiasts are often tempted 
into experiments that can only end in disappointment. 
The object of this article is to state what lilies can be 
grown in certain conditions with a fair certainty of 
permanent success, what lilies will do well for a year 
or two in English gardens, and what lilies still baffle 
all efforts to establish them. It is not possible, in the 
present state of our knowledge, to write with any 
certainty about the cultivation of the more difficult 
lihes, and, therefore, we shall not pretend to any cer- 
tainty about them. There are some difficult plants 
that are difficult for obvious reasons. There are Irises 

125 



ne STUDIES IN GARDENING 

that need more sun than our summers usually provide. 
There are high mountain plants that suffer from our 
wet winters. We know what these want, even if we 
cannot supply it. But we do not know with any 
precision what it is that a good many lilies want, or 
what kills them off so quickly in our climate. Many 
experiments have been made with lilies, such as Lilium 
Krameri, L. Washingtonianum, and L. Philadelphicum, 
and these experiments, whether failures or successes, 
have not led to any certainty. It is likely that most 
of the hardy lilies which annually fail in our gardens 
are very impatient of disturbance and never recover 
from it when they are imported to England from dis- 
tant countries. We have heard it said that some of 
the North American lilies, like some of the hardy 
Cypripediums, never flourish in captivity even in 
gardens close to their native homes. They are not 
likely, therefore, to recover from the shock of dis- 
turbance when they have made a voyage across the 
Atlantic. Sometimes, very likely, these hlies are 
moved more carefully and at more favourable seasons 
than at others, and this would account for occasional 
successes. But the ordinary gardener cannot count 
upon such precautions. He must take what bulbs 
he can get of the rarer kinds of lilies, and he must ex- 
pect to fail with them. The only chance of success 
with lilies that are very impatient of removal would 
seem to be to grow them from seed in England; and 
this has been done in some cases with excellent re- 
sults, though not yet, perhaps, with any of the most 



LILIES 127 

difficult lilies. Some of the finest plants of Lilium 
Szovitzianum at the Royal Horticultural Gardens at 
Wisley were raised from seed by the late Mr. G. F. 
Wilson, and were either not moved at all from the 
seed-bed or were moved with practically no distur- 
bance. Lilium Szovitzianum is not a difficult lily, as 
lilies go; but there are very few probably in Eng- 
land to equal those at Wisley. This experiment of 
raising lilies from seed would be too slow, and per- 
haps too difficult a business for most amateurs, but 
it might be tried on a large scale by lily specialists 
and might result in the acclimatization of some of 
the most difficult lilies. Unfortunately, many of the 
most difficult lilies are abundant in their native homes, 
and so are imported in large numbers and sold fairly 
cheap in England, with the probability, and in some 
cases almost the certainty, that they will disappoint 
those who buy them. 

Before we proceed to speak of particular lilies, it 
will be well to say something about the culture of lilies 
in general. It has been said that no two kinds of lilies 
should be grown exactly alike, and certainly Hlies 
vary more than most genera of plants in their wants. 
But one or two general rules may be safely laid down 
about them, and the first of these is that they all 
like a soil full of the roots of trees or shrubs. The 
reason of this is not quite clear. It cannot be merely 
that they like sharp drainage, since drainage supplied 
by other means will not make up for the want of a 
rooty soil. Some lilies will do well enough without 



128 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

a rooty soil; but those who fail with any particular 
kind should try it in a rooty place, and they will often 
meet with immediate and inexplicable success. Lilies 
also all like good drainage, even if they need plenty 
of moisture. Their bulbs, with their loose scales, are 
more apt to rot in stagnant moisture than bulbs which 
are better protected, and it is well, in the case of bulbs, 
such as those of L. Leichtlini or L. Krameri, which 
are very sensitive to damp, to plant them sideways, 
so that the wet will not settle into their crowns and 
the interstices between their scales. Lilies vary as 
to the depth at which they should be planted, because 
some of them throw out roots from the stalk, and, 
therefore, must be planted deep enough for these roots 
to form, whereas others throw out roots only from the 
base of the bulb. L. candidum, L. testaceum, L. 
giganteum, and most of the Martagon division of 
Hlies, except L. Hansoni and L. Leichtlini, root only 
from the base of the bulb. L. auratum, L. speciosum, 
L. Browni, L. longiflorum, L. croceum, L. elegans, L. 
Henryi, L. Xrameri, L. tigrinum, L. Hansoni, and L. 
Leichtlini all root from the stalk. The beginner should 
ascertain in each particular case whether the lilies he 
wishes to plant are stalk or only bulb rooting. There 
are no lilies that like a very hot place, although some, 
such as L. Chalcedonicum and L. pomponium, need 
a good deal of sun; nor yet will ahy flourish in very 
heavy shade. The greater number do well among 
low-growing shrubs which will protect them from 
late frosts and also from the extreme heat of the sum- 



LILIES 129 

mer sun. A great many lilies suffer very much from 
late frosts, and lilies such as L. auratum, L. specio- 
sum, L. Leichtlini, L. giganteum, and in particular 
the early L. Hansoni, should be protected from them 
with heather or other branches placed lightly about 
their young shoots. Lilies differ so much in the soil 
they require that no general rules can be laid down on 
this point. None, however, like a very stiff clay un- 
less it is well drained and lightened with grit and 
leaf-mould. They differ also as to the time at which 
they should be planted; some are best planted in 
early spring, others in early autumn or late summer. 

The lilies that will usually do well in the ordinary 
herbaceous border and are of such easy culture that 
even the beginner may attempt them with confidence 
are the following: — 

L. candidum, the Madonna Lily. The chief enemy 
of this is the notorious lily disease, and it can be best 
prevented by a right system of culture. In heavy 
soils the Madonna Lily should be planted in a sunny, 
sheltered place; and the soil should be lightened 
with mortar-rubble. It has been said that this lily 
objects to chalk, but we have seen it growing magnif- 
icently in a very chalky soil, and in our experience 
it likes lime in all forms. It also likes a very rooty 
soil; and in light soils it may be planted in a north 
border sheltered by slirubs, but not shaded by them. 
In light soils also it likes a good layer of well rotted 
cow manure well under the bulbs. In all cases the top 
of the bulb should be only an inch or two under the 



130 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

surface of the soil. The Madonna Lily starts into 
growth again a few weeks after it has died down, and 
it is always injured by disturbance when in growth. 
It should, therefore, be planted as early in autumn 
or late summer as possible, and should only be dis- 
turbed, if at all, as soon as it has died down. When 
it is doing well, it should be left alone; and gardeners 
should not be allowed to disturb the soil anywhere 
near it. The forking and hoeing of gardeners is a 
frequent cause of failure with all lilies. When the 
Madonna Lily suffers badly from the disease the safest 
plan is to dig all the bulbs up at once and burn them, 
taking care not to plant new bulbs in the same place. 
They sometimes recover if they are dug up as soon 
as they have died down, and if the bulbs are well 
dusted with sulphur and placed in full sun on a shelf 
in the greenhouse to bake for some weeks. It is well 
always to dust the bulbs in sulphur when they are 
planted. When the disease first appears, it may some- 
times be cured if the leaves of the plant are sprayed 
with Bordeaux mixture. This should be done at 
intervals of a week or so, several times. Lilium tes- 
taceum is said to be a natural hybrid between the 
Madonna Lily and L. Chalcedonicum. It is, after the 
Madonna Lily, perhaps the finest of all garden lilies, 
and it is easier to grow, although it also suffers some- 
times from the lily disease. It grows very tall and 
has beautiful flowers of an apricot yellow with bright 
scarlet anthers. It should be treated like the Ma- 
donna Lily, but does not suffer so much from distur- 



LILIES 131 

bance and remains dormant for a longer period. In- 
deed in most gardens it is best moved into fresh soil 
every three years or so. It should be planted in early 
autunm. In some soils it increases rapidly. 

L. eroceum, L. Davuricum, and L. elegans are all 
good easy lilies and can be grown in the same way; 
L. elegans, a dwarf lily with many varieties, needing 
rather more smi, perhaps, than the others. They 
are all plants for the ordinary border, liking a good 
dose of manure well under the bulbs in light and 
poor soils, and some protection from surrounding 
plants in very hot places. They are best planted in 
the autumn and should all be at least half a foot deep, 
as they make stem roots. 

L. tigrinum, of which there are several good varie- 
ties, is equally easy and needs much the same culture. 
It sometimes suffers if too much crowded or over- 
shadowed by other plants, and also if it is grown in 
too exposed places, or where the summer sun strikes 
full upon it. Splendens is, perhaps, the best variety. 

L. Hansoni is a fine lily of the Martagon division 
with stout yellow spotted flowers. It will grow in 
any good border soil, but the flower buds are often 
killed by late frosts and should be protected from 
them. It does very well among low-growing shrubs, 
provided they do not overshadow it. 

L. Batemanniae is a beautiful lily sometimes classed 
as a variety of L. elegans. It flowers later, how- 
ever, than the other forms of L. elegans, and the 
flowers are of a glowing but soft orange scarlet colour. 



132 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

It is a little more delicate than L. elegans, and likes 
a warm sheltered place and light rich soil. L. Pyrenai- 
cum, a yellow lily of the Martagon division, and its 
scarlet variety are both easy lilies that should be 
planted in the ordinary border in early autumn and 
then left alone. They like manure under the bulbs 
in a light or poor soil, and will do well both in sun and 
in half shade. L. Martagon is a little more capricious 
perhaps, and prefers half shade. It should not be 
disturbed when well established. The variety Dal- 
maticum is a much finer plant, and not more difficult 
to grow. The beautiful white variety is certainly 
more capricious. It likes a slight slope with a northerly 
aspect, and a rooty, stony soil. It must also be shel- 
tered both from strong winds and from the extreme 
heat of the sun. It is, unfortunately, rare and rather 
expensive, although an old plant. It sometimes thrives 
wonderfully in old cottage gardens without any atten- 
tion whatever, and fails when it is given every lux- 
ury. 

We have now to speak of lilies which need more 
care and more or less peculiar conditions, and of these 
we will deal first with those which can usually be 
permanently established in English gardens without 
much difficulty. Lilium Chalcedonicum is a fine lily 
with bright scarlet flowers and a near relation of the 
Martagon or Turk's-cap lilies. It comes from the 
south of Europe and Asia Minor, and therefore re- 
quires a good deal of sun to ripen the bulbs. It should 
be grown in a warm place very well drained, and sel- 



LILIES 133 

dom thrives without a strong dose of lime in the soil. 
In stiff soils this should be given in the form of mortar- 
rubble about the bulbs. It is supposed to be a capri- 
cious lily, and often suffers from disease; but this 
usually happens when it does not get enough sun or 
when it is injured by late frosts or stagnant moisture 
about the roots. It suffers less than most lilies from 
drought. It likes a rich soil, even a stiff loam if well 
drained and mixed with mortar-rubble, but it should 
be sheltered from cold winds. Such shelter may be 
given by Lavender or Rosemary bushes placed so that 
they will not overshadow it too much or screen it 
from the south. It looks its best growing among 
these southern shrubs, and it likes a soil filled with 
their roots. It should never be disturbed when thriv- 
ing, and is best planted in early autumn. It flowers 
towards the end of July. 

Lilium pomponium, a smaller lily, but very like 
it, should be treated in the same way, but is easier to 
grow and less subject to disease. It also likes mortar- 
rubble, especially in heavy soils, but lime is not es- 
sential to it. The red variety of L. Pyrenaicum is 
sometimes sold for it, but is an inferior plant. Neither 
L. pomponium nor L. Chalcedonicum should be planted 
deep, as they do not make any stem roots. The soil 
should be stamped hard about the bulbs, and should 
never be forked or disturbed when they are grow- 
ing. 

Lilium Szovitzianum is a splendid lily, tall and 
robust. The flowers are pale yellow with dark spots. 



134 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

Well-grown plants are 4 or 5 ft. high and bear a 
dozen or more flowers. It Kkes a good loamy soil 
mixed with leaf-mould, but is said to thrive in stiff 
clay if well drained. It suffers from drought if ex- 
posed to the full heat of the sun, and should be grown 
among low shrubs or herbaceous plants. It will sel- 
dom thrive on a bare patch of ground. It is best 
planted in early autumn and takes some years to reach 
its full beauty; so it should not be disturbed when 
once well established. It grows very well in the grass 
in haff shade at Wisley, and can be raised from seed, 
though this is a slow process. It is often called also 
L. monadelphum, but this is really a distinct species 
with flowers of a darker yellow. 

Three North American lilies — L. Canadense, L. 
pardalinum, and L. superbum — grow well and in- 
crease in a moist soil rich in humus, if they are 
protected both from cold winds and from the full 
heat of the sun. They Hke peat well enough, but 
prefer it enriched with loam and humus. L. par- 
dalinum and L. superbum will grow also in fairly 
dry shady places if they are well watered in dry weather. 
They do well among shrubs, such as azaleas, rhododen- 
drons, kalmias, &c., but they must not be smothered 
by them. When the soil is not naturally moist it is 
well to plant them in a slight hollow where the water 
will be collected and drain down to their roots. Their 
chief enemy is drought, and they will not usually 
thrive in the ordinary border. They should not be 
disturbed when established, and if grown in a suit- 



LILIES 135 

able place will increase in beauty and also In num- 
bers year after year. L. Canadense grows about three 
feet high, and has usually orange yellow flowers. 
L. pardalinum and L. superbum will grow 6 ft. high 
or more, and their flowers are bright orange scarlet. 
L. Grayl is a beautiful lily with crimson drooping 
flowers which is said to be a variety of L, Canadense 
and also to be not much more difficult to grow. 

Lihum giganteum, the tallest of lilies, grows over 10 
ft. high. Its flowers are relatively small and not partic- 
ularly beautiful in themselves, though the whole effect 
of a plant in flower is very fine. It should be planted 
in April in a deep soil half loam and half humus, with 
the top of the bulb uncovered by soil, and It must 
be protected from late frosts and from drought. When 
this lily flowers the flowering bulb dies and throws 
offsets, which should be taken up and replanted sep- 
arately, and which will then flower in a year or two. 
It is best to start with small bulbs and not to expect 
flowers for a year or two. L. giganteum is a lily for 
woodland glades or the wild garden rather than for 
the herbaceous border. 

Lilium Henr^d was only Introduced a few years 
ago, and Is a most valuable lily, perhaps no more 
difficult than L. tigrinum. In the shape of its flowers 
and in its growth it is like L. speciosum, but the flowers 
are deep orange yellow, and it grows to a great height. 
It Is not particular about soil, but does best perhaps 
In deep loam and leaf-mould in a half-shaded place 
among low shrubs. It will stand sun, however, much 



136 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

better than L. speciosum. The bulbs have a remark- 
able habit of travelling underground. 

Lilium Brownii is a magnificent lily, close to L. 
longiflorum, but with white flowers stained on the 
outside with brown. It is also much more lasting 
than L. longiflorum in our climate, and will often 
live for years in a soil of light sandy loam and leaf- 
mould and in a sheltered half-shaded place. It will 
not do well in cold soils or climates, and cannot endure 
stagnant moisture. It may be grown with care in 
the border, but is always a little capricious. There 
are several varieties of it. 

We will pass now to lilies that are usually short- 
lived in our climate, though some of them can be 
easily grown for a year or two. Of these L. speciosum 
is the easiest, and in some places will thrive for a 
good many years. It likes a deep soil of leaf-mould, 
peat, and loam, and a sheltered situation among low- 
growing slirubs. It should be protected from late 
frosts, from the extreme heat of the sun, and from 
drought. There are a good many varieties of L. specio- 
sum, of which Kraetzeri, with pure white flowers, is 
one of the best. L. speciosum flowers late in the year, 
and should be planted, if possible, with a southerly 
aspect, as otherwise the flowers may be spoilt by early 
autumn frosts. 

L. auratum requires the same culture, but is apt 
to die out sooner than L. speciosum. Its variety 
platyphyllum is more robust, and will sometimes 
last for years in English gardens. The chief reason 
why L. auratum and L. speciosum die out is probably 



LILIES 137 

that our summers are not warm enough for them; 
and, since they cannot be exposed to the full heat of 
the sun, it is difficult to give them enough warmth. 
They do best in warm, sheltered half-shady places, 
and should never be planted with a north aspect, 
except in very warm parts of the country. They re- 
quire a good drainage, and in dry soils it is a good 
plan to sink drain-pipes vertically into the ground 
among the bulbs to such a depth that water poured 
down them will come immediately to the roots at the 
base of the bulbs. As they make large stem roots, 
they should be planted deep. 

Lilium longiflorum, of which there are several 
varieties, seldom does well for more than a year or 
so in the open. The flowers also suffer much from 
heavy rains. It should be treated like L. auratum, 
but endures sun better. The variety Takesima is 
perhaps the best for outdoor culture. Lilium Krameri 
is a magnificent lily with flowers like those of L. longi- 
florum, only pink. It is very delicate and should be 
grown in a warm, half-shaded place in a soil consist- 
ing mainly of rubble, sand, and leaf-mould. The 
drainage should be as sharp as possible, and it is well 
to surround the bulbs entirely with rubble and sand. 
It mil sometimes endure for several years if very 
carefully grown. L. rubellum, a very small pink Hly, 
requires the same kind of treatment, but is perhaps 
more robust. It does best on a dry, rooty bank, half- 
shaded. 

Lilium concolor and L. coridion are also small 
lilies that often die out in our gardens. They do best 



138 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

in loam and peat or leaf-mould in a sheltered and 
half-shaded place. L. Leichtlini is a pretty yellow- 
spotted lily that should be grown like L. speciosum, 
but is very impatient of stagnant moisture. L. tenui- 
folium is a most beautiful little lily with scarlet flowers 
somewhat hke those of L. pomponium, but more 
deHcate. It is easy enough to grow for one year in 
a well-drained, half-shaded place, and in a soil of 
loam and leaf-mould. Unfortunately it almost al- 
ways dies out after it has flowered once. It is prob- 
ably short-lived by nature, but it can be raised quicker 
than most lilies from seed; and, since it is one of the 
most beautiful of all, this is worth attempting. 

A good many North American lilies, though oc- 
casionally cultivated in English gardens, are either 
very capricious or apparently impossible to grow. 
Thus L. Humboldtii and L. Parryi occasionally do 
well for a time at least, but they are plants only for 
experts.. L. Humboldtii appears to thrive in loam 
sometimes in the milder and damper parts of the 
country, L. Parryi seems to do best in a rather dry, 
half-shady place. Other North American lilies, such 
as L. Washingtonianum, L. Philadelphicum, and L. 
maritimum, have not yet, we believe, been grown 
with permanent success anywhere in England, even 
by Mr. Wilson at Wisley. It is well to surround the 
bulbs of all the more delicate lilies with silver sand 
and to place a lump of peat under them so as to en- 
courage root action. 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 
I 

THE fact that a third edition of Mr. T. H. Maw- 
son's "Art and Craft of Garden Making" has 
lately appeared is a sign that the old naturalistic 
ideas of garden design are losing their hold upon the 
public; for Mr. Mawson, both in precept and ex- 
ample, is altogether against naturalism in gardening. 
This does not mean that he is altogether against 
nature. His advice, put shortly, is — Never imitate 
nature with intent to deceive; but, where there is 
natural beauty already in a garden, make use of it. 
It is mere pedantry, he says, to condemn all com- 
binations of nature and art. "Even in prosaic manu- 
factures many successes depend upon nature's as- 
sistance and suppHes wisely applied by man, notably 
in dyeing and fermentation and many others. An 
illustration of frequent occurrence is to be found in 
the combination of terrace walls built on the natural 
rock which crops out of the ground; a combination 
which is most effective when skilfully done. As- 
sisting or touching up nature is more a question of 
the spirit in which it is done, rather than the prin- 
ciple which calls forth criticism." This is not very 
well expressed, but the meaning is clear and the il- 

139 



140 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

lustration apt. Both naturalists and formalists are 
apt to be pedantic in the application of their prin- 
ciples. The naturalist forgets that in ninety-nine 
gardens out of a hundred nature cannot be plausibly 
imitated, even if such imitation were the right aim of 
gardening. The formalist forgets that the material 
of a garden is for the most part living material and 
that there is no necessary incongruity between it and 
the living things of nature. A great part of the beauty 
of good formal gardening comes from the contrast 
between the limited and unchanging forms of things 
that are made by man and the variety and unceasing 
changes of plant life. The most familiar example 
of such a contrast is to be found in ivy or a^ny other 
creeper growing up a house or a church or a bridge. 
But the beauty is lost or much diminished when the 
contrast disappears with any overgrowth of the plant. 
If a building is beautiful in itself, it should not be 
smothered in creepers; and, even if it is not beautiful, 
it has an air of desolation and neglect when so smoth- 
ered. There is, of course, a modern fancy for desola- 
tion and neglect, which is, no doubt, a reaction against 
extreme artificiality of life and the result of a disgust 
for the ugliness of most modern things made by man. 
It is, in fact, a kind of Byronism of taste; and, as 
Byronism was the result of unhealthy living, so this 
is the result of unhealthy art. In great ages of art 
men have never wished to make their gardens look 
like wildernesses or their houses like overgrown ruins. 
They have been pleased with their own handiwork. 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 141 

and confident of their power to improve nature in 
subduing her to their own purposes. 

In a garden man subdues nature to his own pur- 
poses, and to pretend that he is not doing so is mere 
affectation. But, at the same time, there is no reason 
why he should make an arrogant display of his con- 
quest, why he should not use all beautiful accidents 
of nature that will not conflict with the aims of his 
art. There are some formal gardeners who want all 
their plants to look like architectural ornaments, 
mere vegetable repetitions of stonework conventions; 
and it is an unfortunate piece of luck for them that 
nature has produced some trees and plants that look 
as if man and not she had made them, and others 
that can be easily cut into any shape that takes the 
designer's fancy. The use of these, or the misuse of 
them, deprives formal gardening of one of its chief 
beauties, that contrast between the forms of architec- 
ture and the forms of natural growth of which we 
have already spoken. It is just as absurd to attempt 
to make plants look like architectural ornaments as 
to attempt to make a garden look like a piece of wild 
nature, and in each case the absurdity comes from 
the same desire to make things seem what they are 
not, the desire that produces so many modern kinds 
of ugliness. A garden is not a piece of wild nature, 
and a plant is not an architectural ornament. All 
make-believes of this kind do violence to the essential 
character of the material which they use; and, whether 
they run into excess of naturalism or excess of formal- 



142 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

ism, they are wrong, because they are unnatural. 
But this is not to say that trees or shrubs should never 
be clipped. Their treatment must depend upon the 
uses to which they are put; and this is the funda- 
mental principle of all good garden design. If a plant 
is used as an ornament in the garden, then it should 
be allowed to grow to its fullest natural beauty. But, 
if it is grown for use, then it should be treated in any 
way that will make it more useful. Thus, if May- 
trees are grown for ornament, they should be allowed 
to grow freely, and not be clipped into any artificial 
shape, since no artificial shape can be so beautiful 
as the natural form of the tree. But, if they are used 
as a hedge, they should be clipped to make them serve 
their purpose. There is no make-believe in a hedge. 
It is, what it professes to be, a vegetable wall or en- 
closure, and there is no reason whatever why living 
vegetables should not be used for such a purpose as 
much as dead vegetables or as minerals. Also, there 
is no reason, of course, why trees of all kinds should 
not be cut back to enhance the beauty of their natural 
growth and blossom, or to prevent them from grow- 
ing where they are not wanted. The only rule about 
clipping trees or shrubs is that it should always be 
done not as unnatural ornament, but for some good 
practical reason, and when the reason is obvious the 
clipped tree very seldom looks ugly, and often has a 
peculiar charm of its own, because it gives evidence 
of human care and pains intelhgently applied. Thus 
a clipped yew pleases us in a narrow cottage garden, 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 143 

because it is clipped to give space, and even topiary 
work in such places is often pleasant enough, since 
the clipping is necessary, and the elaborate forms 
which it takes are merely expressions of the cottager's 
fancy and of his delight in his work. But there is 
no such reason for clipping a yew on a wide expanse 
of lawUj and topiary work there is not an expression 
of the gardener's delight in his work, but a mere task 
to which he is set by the whim of his employer. There- 
fore, we think only of the labour that has been wasted 
on it, and take no pleasure in it. The principles thus 
applied to the treatment of trees and shrubs should 
be applied to all matters of garden design. In laying 
out a garden we should consider not what are the rules 
of formalism or naturalism, but what is our object 
in making a garden and each particular part of it, 
and also whether our object is the best possible. The 
object of many modern gardeners is purely horti- 
cultural, and often it is not even to grow beautiful 
flowers, but merely curious or difficult ones. When 
that is so, the garden cannot be beautiful, for, if the 
gardener does not aim at beauty, he may be sure 
that he will not attain it. But, assuming that the 
gardener wishes to grow beautiful flowers, we may 
further assume, if he has any intelHgence, that he 
wishes to display their beauty to the best advantage, 
and he cannot do this without some grasp of the prin- 
ciples of garden design. If he thinks that he has only 
to imitate nature, let him remember that nature pro- 
duces her own beauty in conditions quite different 



144 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

from those of any garden. One condition which the 
garden eliminates is the struggle for life, with all its 
reckless profusion. The gardener is not content that 
a plant, when it has flowered and seeded, should take 
its chance of being smothered by other plants that 
flower later; and all that conflict and smothering, 
which delight him at their most beautiful moments 
in woodland and meadow as evidences of the prodigal- 
ity of nature, would vex him in a garden, as mere 
signs of idleness and neglect. Also, the plants in a 
garden are not, like wild plants, all natives of one 
country and harmonious either by association or by 
some natural law. They come from many different 
countries and natural conditions, and, unless arranged 
with care, often look incongruous together. There- 
fore, even if the gardener's one desire is to grow beau- 
tiful plants and to display their beauty to the best 
advantage, he must, at any rate, design his arrange- 
ment of them on some principle both horticultural 
and aesthetic, and he will often find it difficult to draw 
a sharp line between the horticultural and the aesthetic 
problem. Both the health and the beauty of a plant 
are spoilt if it is smothered; and a plant which grows 
naturally in some peculiar conditions will often neither 
thrive nor look well in ordinary conditions and among 
plants that grow naturally in such conditions. 

Directly the gardener begins to consider not merely 
the beauty of the plant in itself, but the question of 
its environment as affecting that beauty, he is drawn 
into the whole question of garden design, at least in 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 145 

so far as it concerns the arrangement of plants, and 
then at once he finds that the naturalistic theory fails 
him. He cannot imitate nature in the arrangement 
of plants that have their native homes in different 
continents and may never have made each other's 
acquaintance until they meet in his garden, and, if 
he attempts no arrangement at all, he will find that 
he has produced a chaos far uglier than the worst 
failures of nature, which are often ugly enough — 
the kind of chaos which is found in the ordinary mixed 
shrubbery of a suburban garden. It is plain, there- 
fore, that even the gardener who cares for nothing 
but his fiowers, and thinks of his garden only as a 
place to grow flowers in, must yet consider design, if 
he is to display them to the best advantage. The 
original and true meaning of design is merely pur- 
pose. The gardener who designs his garden has an 
aesthetic purpose, and therefore goes further than 
nature, which, in the arrangement of plants, so far 
as we can tell, has no aesthetic purpose at all. But 
directly he begins to consider the design, even if he 
consider it only from the point of view of his flowers, 
he will find that he can have no design without some 
degree of form^ality. He wishes, for instance, for some 
contrast between two plants of very different char- 
acter, so that the beauty of both may be enhanced. 
That contrast will probably be insignificant in only 
one example. He must either, therefore, repeat it 
at intervals along a border, or else emphasize it by 
the use of a good many plants of the two contrasting 



146 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

kinds, arranged together in one place. In either case 
there will be some formality in his arrangement. 
Some of the most eloquent advocates of natural gar- 
dening have devised the most elaborate and often 
excellent schemes for the planting of borders, and, 
the better their schemes are, the more formality there 
is in them. They protest against the word formality, 
because it makes them think of carpet bedding and 
ribbon borders; but these are only coarse and art- 
less examples of formality. A fine formal design does 
not catch the eye and drag it along a long line of dis- 
cordant colours. It has its splendours and its quiet 
places, its multitudinous and solitary beauties, its 
contrasts and its harmonies both of form and of colour, 
like a picture by Titian. It may not look formal, 
but, if it is both restful and exciting to the eye, rais- 
ing expectations only to gratify them, we may be 
sure, and we shall discover by a little analysis, that 
it has a formal basis, like a great piece of music that at 
a first hearing may seem to be a wilderness of beauti- 
ful sound. The present writer has always found that 
any arrangement of plants which has struck him by 
its beauty has been based upon the repetition of cer- 
tain dominant features, and such a basis is formal, 
although it is also found in the best effects of nature. 
Nature supplies motives for design as she supplies 
material, but because they are accidental in her we 
are not to suppose that they will come by accident 
in the garden. So far we have spoken only of design 
in the arrangement of flowers, on the assumption 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 147 

that the garden is to be considered only as a place 
for plants. In another article we will speak of design 
on the assumption that the garden is also a place for 
human beings, an assumption which must, of course, 
have a considerable influence on the treatment of 
flowers in it. 

II 

It is only in modern times that the garden has 
come to be thought of as a home for flowers and not 
for human beings. Mr. Mawson in his "Art and 
Craft of Garden Making" says that the medieval 
and Renaissance gardeners regarded the garden as 
a "becoming setting to the mansion." The landscape 
gardeners, beginning with Capability Brown, ignored 
the home altogether in their designs, and also its 
inhabitants. Civilized human beings were anachro- 
nisms in their gardens, though Adam and Eve, in fine 
summer weather, might have harmonized with them. 
They were realists, Mr. Mawson says, and the older 
designers were idealists. But in this case, as in many 
others, common sense was with the idealists, since 
their idealism was based upon plain facts. Gardens, 
they knew, were meant to be inhabited, so far as our 
climate would allow, by civilized human beings; and 
they tried to make them as convenient as possible 
for that purpose. The landscape gardeners, forget- 
ting this fact, made their gardens as unhomely as 
they could. They also had far less interest in horti- 
culture than the earlier designers. They were in- 



148 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

clined to leave that, like everything else, to nature. 
But, in spite of them, the deep-rooted English delight 
in flowers persisted and increased all through the 
nineteenth century; and since it was no longer con- 
trolled by the old principles of garden design, the 
cultivation of flowers became the chief purpose of 
pleasure gardening, until at the present day most 
people would stare if it were suggested to them that 
pleasure gardening ought to have any other purpose. 
And yet it is plain enough that a pleasure garden is 
meant to give pleasure to human beings and should 
be designed with that object. Let it be as beautiful 
as it can be made, since beauty is one of the main 
elements of pleasure, but let its beauty, like that of 
a living room, be controlled by use. Have as many 
flowers as you like, but think of them, not as the 
reason for the garden's existence, but as its ornaments, 
as you would think of the ornaments of a living room. 
A museum may be interesting, but it is not a place 
to live in; nor yet is a garden that is a mere museum 
of plants. If garden designers would forget the quarrel 
about formal and realistic gardens and design only 
for pleasure and comfort they would avoid many 
of the errors into which they commonly fall. If pleasure 
and comfort were their main objects they would al- 
ways make the best of existing conditions. They 
would not try to turn a suburban slip of ground into 
a wilderness or a wild hillside into a tea garden. Their 
problem would be simplified, because it would become 
concrete instead of abstract, just as the painter's 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 149 

problem is simplified when he has to decorate a given 
space instead of painting pictures at large. 

^Esthetic problems are always most successfully 
solved when they are not purely aesthetic; and it is be- 
cause the problem of garden designs has become purely 
aesthetic that it now seems so difficult. If the designer, 
instead of asking himself where he should place his 
herbaceous border and where his rock-garden or his 
rosary or his plantations of flowering shrubs, were to 
consider how best he could contrive places of coolness 
and shade for the summer and sheltered sunny walks 
for the winter, he would find that his aesthetic and 
horticultural problems were beginning to solve them- 
selves. Flowers he would use as decoration and, 
using them so, he would soon discover a principle 
for their arrangement. Trees and shrubs he would 
employ mainly for use, to give shelter and shade; 
and therefore he would avoid the random planting 
of them now so common. He would also avoid ex- 
cesses of formalism, since he would not clip those 
trees or shrubs that were planted for shade, but only 
those which needed clipping that they might grow 
close for shelter. He would be very sparing in his 
use of what are called "ornamental conifers," now 
so often misused by formalists and naturalists alike. 
He would not plant a row of Thujas in front of a yew 
hedge because he wished to advertise the fact that he 
was a formalist; nor would he dot them anyhow about 
a lawn for no reason whatever. Monkey Puzzles he 
would leave for gardens where there are monkeys to 



150 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

puzzle. It is in the treatment of trees and shrubs 
that naturalistic gardening has failed most com- 
pletely, since it has forgotten their uses and treated 
them as mere instruments of illusion. As Mr. Maw- 
son says, they should be employed for use, and there 
should be no concealment of the fact that they are so 
employed. " The various flower gardens or tennis lawns 
. . . would have their divisions, whether hedges or 
other arrangement, so treated as to express at once 
their use. To get shade, instead of creating it entirely 
by means of loose masses or clumps of trees, he (the 
designer) would obtain it by means of alleys, covered 
bowers, pergolas, or avenues, each of which would 
show at once the designer's intention." The ordinary 
mixed shrubbery certainly does not show at once 
the designer's intention, since as a rule he has no in- 
tention whatever, except to find a place for shrubs; 
nor does it usually serve any useful purpose, since it 
provides neither shelter nor shade. Its purpose, in 
fact, is purely aesthetic, and in ninety-nine cases out 
of a hundred it fails entirely in that purpose, as a mere 
hotch-potch of decorative objects must usually fail. 

Mr. Mawson insists that the main lines of a gar- 
den should usually be straight, or as straight as they 
can be made; and this is a safe rule to follow, pro- 
vided the designer does not make a fetish of it. They 
should be straight, not because we are growing tired 
of the fashion of curving lines, but so that they may 
express the designer's pm-pose as simply and plainly 
as possible. A path, for instance, if it is a means of 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 151 

providing a dry passage from one part of the garden 
to another, should be straight so that it may be short. 
But when a garden is designed to be a mere assemblage 
of decorative features, flower-beds and shrubberies 
and rosaries and rock gardens, then naturally the 
paths will wind about from one feature to another, 
expressing by their wanderings the designer's lack 
of purpose. In the same way a hedge will be straight 
if it is meant to provide a sheltered, sunny aspect, 
and trees will be planted in an avenue or an alley if 
they are meant to provide shade. But if they have 
no such definite purpose they will be arranged ac- 
cording to the whim of the designer or the fashion 
which happens to be in favour with him. Straight 
walks, straight hedges, and straight avenues may be 
ugly enough, and are always ugly when they are de- 
signed without any purpose or coherence; and it is 
certainly true that a want of purpose can be better 
concealed with curving lines, which is, perhaps, the 
true reason why they have become so popular. But 
the use of straight lines is a wholesome discipline to 
the designer, since, if he lacks purpose, they will never 
conceal the fact from him or from any one else, and his 
design will look silly, if it is silly; whereas, we are 
now all so used to naturalistic designs without use or 
purpose that we never even ask ourselves what their 
meaning may be. We are inured to misplaced shrub- 
beries, but we are not inured to misplaced hedges or 
avenues, and can still apply some principle of criti- 
cism to them. 



152 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

To design with purpose, therefore, and to express 
your purpose clearly in your design, is in one way 
much more difficult than to make an arbitrary arrange- 
ment of flowers, grass, trees, and shrubs; but in an- 
other it is much easier. It is more difficult because 
the main lines of the design must be clearly thought 
out and fixed before a sod is turned, and because there 
must be a good reason for all of them. It is easier 
because, when once these main lines are determined, 
the details of decoration will be more or less clearly 
suggested by them, and so the problem of flower and 
shrub arrangement will be very much simplffied. In 
a garden well planned for use and pleasure there will 
be room for flowers of all kinds arranged in many 
different ways. If, for instance, there is a nut walk 
for shade or any kind of alley made by deciduous 
trees, there may be Bluebells or Solomon's Seal, or 
any other suitable flowers, planted naturally under 
the trees. There will be no incongruity in them merely 
because the trees are regularly arranged. 

When there is a straight path leading to a summer- 
house it will be natural to have a border on each side 
of it, since it is one of the pleasures of a garden to 
walk between flowers. According to the principles 
of naturalistic gardening, summer-houses were de- 
signed to be homes for earwigs rather than for human 
beings, and, considering their ugliness and incon- 
venience, it was only right that they should be hidden 
away, as they usually were, where no one could see 
them. But if a garden is to contain a summer-house 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 153 

at all, that summer-house should surely be both use- 
ful and beautiful, and should be placed where its use 
and beauty will be greatest. There is something 
prosaic and superfluous about a summer-house close 
to a house. It should, if possible, be at the other end 
of the garden and where it will command a good view 
of the garden. Then the path connecting it with the 
house will be one of the main features of the design. 
Perhaps there may be a border on each side of this 
path for its whole distance, so that there shall be a 
vista of flowers all the way from the drawing-room 
window to the summer-house. The summer-house 
itself, also, should have its front, at least, thickset 
with flowers, just as there should be flowers close 
round the house. It is a common defect of purely 
horticultural and naturalistic gardens that flowers 
are seldom placed in them where they can be most 
easily enjoyed by the inhabitants of the house. Flowers 
should be concentrated, if possible, where they can be 
seen and smelt from the drawing-room windows, and 
in places arranged for the comfort of human beings. 
Sunk Dutch gardens are such places; and their formal- 
ity is the result, not of mere fashion, but of the desire 
to make a pleasant outdoor home both for flowers 
and for human beings who wish to enjoy them. Their 
clipped yew hedges give shelter to both, and the fact 
that they sink in regular stages ensures different con- 
ditions to suit different plants. It provides sharp 
drainage above and moisture below. In fact a sunk 
Dutch garden is only a kind of formalized sunk rockery; 



154 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

and it is formalized because it considers human beings 
as well as plants. A great many rock plants may be 
grown in it so that their beauty will show to the great- 
est advantage. In fact, now that we have so many 
rock plants, unknown to our ancestors or neglected 
by them, Dutch gardens may be made more beau- 
tiful than ever before, with sheets of Lithospermum 
prostratum interspersed with Arenaria montana, with 
contrasts of Silene alpestris and Campanula muralis 
or of Veronica prostrata and the yellow Helianthemum. 
All these will harmonize with the blind bow-boy or 
the dancing fountain just as well as the customary 
duller plants; and their flowers will shine as much 
against smooth masonry as against rough-hewn rocks. 
A Dutch garden is intended for the display of flowers 
in detail, and no better place has ever been contrived 
for that purpose. 

There is one great advantage which the modern 
designer has over his predecessors, and that is in the 
use which he can make of steep banks and slopes. 
These, since they are obviously inconvenient resting- 
places for human beings, should be treated by the 
designer as spaces to be decorated. The older de- 
signers, apparently, despaired of decorating them 
with flowers, and therefore built them up, when they 
had the money, with walls — a very costly process. 
The naturalists usually covered them with turf or 
with the few varieties of shrubs, usually ugly and 
uninteresting, that would thrive on them. But now, 
luckily, we know of many beautiful flowers that will 



THE THEORY OF GARDEN DESIGN 155 

thrive on them; and therefore it is only right and 
natural to cover them with such flowers, using rocks 
where they are needed, to protect the plants from 
drought and to prevent the soil from washing away. 
The rock garden is always a difficult problem in gar- 
den design, and many people who cannot do without 
the beauty of Alpine flowers make no attempt to 
solve it. They place their rock garden in any place 
horticulturally convenient without considering whether 
it has any congruity with the rest of their design. 
In some cases this cannot be helped. If your garden 
is all flat, and if you must have a rock garden, no 
art will make it agree with formal surroundings. But 
if there are any steep slopes in your garden, some 
wildness in the planting of them will appear natural 
even if everything else is formal; and, even if they 
seem suitable to the growth only of the easier rock 
plants, they can usually by a little contrivance be 
arranged so as to provide homes for the more delicate 
Alpines. Yet this obvious use of natural slopes is 
often neglected where there are rock gardens placed 
in the most unnatural and incongruous positions. 
Garden designers, in spite of the naturalistic move- 
ment, are still unwilling to take the line of least re- 
sistance, and would rather do violence to nature, 
even when professing to imitate her, than adapt her 
to their own purposes and coax her into the service 
of man. 



SOME DETAILS OF SUMMER GARDENING 

AT the end of June the garden is in its prime, 
l\. and the gardener is supposed to enjoy the fruit 
of his labours. Yet there is plenty for him to do if 
he cares to do it, and he can find for himself a hun- 
dred little tasks besides weeding and watering, the 
performance of which will make all the difference to 
the future beauty and even well-being of his plants. 
This is the time, for instance, for attending to spring 
flowers that have now gone out of bloom. The gar- 
dener should seize the opportunity of wet weather to di- 
vide all spring flowering plants which need dividing, for 
it is much better to do this now when the plants have 
the whole summer to recover in than in the autumn, 
when they have no time to make new growth. There 
are a great many Primulas, such as P. denticulata, 
P. rosea, P. Sikkimensis, P. Japonica, and even Prim- 
roses and Polyanthuses, which deteriorate quickly 
unless they are divided when their crowns begin to 
multiply; and it is only safe to divide the more deli- 
cate of these soon after they have flowered. Auric- 
ulas, too, and many kinds of Alpine Primulas are the 
better for occasional division and replanting, and 
this is the time to do it, provided they can be pro- 
tected from drought afterwards. This applies also 
to many spring-flowering plants which flower best 

156 



DETAILS OF SUMMER GARDENING 157 

from a single crown, as, for instance, to the double 
Daisies, which need to be divided and replanted every 
year, especially in light soils, if they are not to de- 
teriorate quickly, and to the delicate little Morisia 
hypogsea, one of the best early-flowering plants for 
the rock garden, and one which many gardeners com- 
plain that they cannot keep long in health. The 
reason usually is that they are afraid to disturb it, 
since it is a deep-rooting plant. They therefore allow 
it to form a number of crowns, which it does very 
quickly, and which crowd each other in a narrow in- 
terstice between the rocks, with the result that it 
grows feebler every year. It should be taken up as 
soon as it has gone out of flower, and after all the 
crowns have been carefully divided they should be 
planted separately in cool places between the rocks 
and in fresh deep compost of loam and leaf mould. 
There are many spring flowering plants which need 
the same treatment especially in light or poor soil, 
and the gardener can usually discover which they 
are by observation. When he sees that a plant breaks 
up into a number of crowns after a year or two and 
begins to flower poorly, then he may be pretty sure 
that the only possible remedy for its deterioration is 
division. Division, of course, may kill the plant, 
but it is always worth trying when the only alter- 
native is deterioration. Aquilegia glandulosa and its 
beautiful hybrid A. Stuartii are plants which often 
die out or cease to flower after a year or two in the 
south of England, and the only remedy for this is 



158 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

careful division as soon as they have gone out of 
flower. By this means they may often be perpetuated 
and a good stock of plants may be obtained; but 
division or any kind of disturbance in the autumn 
usually results in their death. It may seem strange 
that plants should need such artificial means to keep 
them in health in gardens, when they flourish in a state 
of nature without any help except from natm*e; but 
it must be remembered that they grow wild only in 
conditions naturally most favourable to them, and 
that many of them have very short lives and never 
reach that perfection which we demand of them in 
gardens. Nature's chief object is that they should 
reproduce themselves, and, provided they do this, 
she is careless what becomes of them afterwards. 
But in the garden we do not always wish them to re- 
produce themselves. We may have enough of a par- 
ticular plant, or we may have a particular variety 
which will not come true from seed, and we may there- 
fore wish it to spend its energy in making new growth 
rather than in ripening seed. The ripening of seed 
is the most exhausting process that a plant imdergoes, 
and there are many plants that kill or permanently 
weaken themselves by profuse seed-bearing. Such 
plants may often be saved from death by the removal 
of their flowers as soon as they wither; and even true 
perennials are often much benefited by such removal. 
There are a great many evergreen plants that soon 
grow straggling and unkempt if they are never cut 
back, and the time to cut them back is when they 



DETAILS OF SUMMER GARDENING 159 

have just gone out of flower, so that they may be 
freed from the strain of seed-bearing. If this is done, 
they will usually soon make a vigorous new growth 
and look fresh and green again by early autumn; 
some of them, too, will flower a second time. Among 
such plants are Aubrietia, Saponaria ocymoides, 
Veronica prostrata, the Helianthemums, many kinds 
of pinks, the smaller Achilleas, Alyssum saxatile, the 
Cerastiums, the Creeping Phloxes, and Iberis sem- 
pervirens and its varieties. Cutting back is not neces- 
sary for any of these plants, as they are all fairly vigor- 
ous perennials; but they are greatly improved in 
vigour and appearance by it, and some of them, such 
as the Helianthemums, will live much longer for it. 
Pansies and Violas, too, are the better for cutting 
back as soon as they grow leggy. If they do not 
suffer from drought after the operation they will soon 
make vigorous new growth, which will prolong the 
life of the pansies; and, in the case of the Violas, will 
provide an abundance of cuttings. 

But there are no plants that benefit more by cut- 
ting back than profuse flowering shrubs, and many of 
them often suffer much in our gardens from the want 
of it. This is particularly the case with shrubs which 
are not very hardy, such as the Cistuses. These will 
often survive a hard winter if they are cut back as 
soon as they have flowered and never allowed to grow 
straggly. The cutting back not only saves them from 
the exhaustion of bearing seed, but also seems to con- 
centrate their vigour. There are many shrubs, too. 



160 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

like most of the brooms, that are not very long-lived 
by natm-e, but live much longer if they are cut back 
after flowering. Cutting back is particularly useful 
in a poor soil, when shrubs are always apt to get 
straggly, especially if it is accompanied by a mulching 
of manure or leaf -mould to encourage new growth. 
When a shrub seems to be doing badly, it will often 
take a new turn if it is cut back and mulched in early 
summer, and this is particularly the case with Rhodo- 
dendrons and Azaleas. If they are cut back at all 
hard they will probably not flower the next year, 
but they may be transformed into sturdy compact 
plants, and one year's blossom is a small price to pay 
for that. Roses, too, especially in a light soil, may 
often be much benefited if they are cut back after 
their first flush of bloom, but the gardener must not 
hack at his Roses, or, indeed, at any shrubs or plants, 
blindly. He must always be quite clear in his mind 
before he does anything as to the reason why he pro- 
poses to do it. His object in trimming a shrub may 
be merely to prevent it from seeding, in which case 
he will only cut away all the heads of the flowers. 
Or it may be also to promote a vigorous new growth 
by the removal of shoots which have done the duty 
for the year by bearing flowers, in which case he will 
cut away not only the flower heads, but also the shoots 
which bear them, so far as they seem to be exhausted 
by the process. Or he may wish to thin a shrub that 
is getting crowded by the removal of the older and 
weaker wood. The first of these operations may be 



DETAILS OF SUMIVIER GARDENING 161 

performed on all roses after their early summer bloom; 
the second on roses, such as the dwarf polyanthus, 
which throw up shoots bearing crowded heads of 
bloom; the third on the many roses that flower only 
once in the summer. These roses should not be pruned 
at all except when they are first planted, or if they 
seem not to be thriving; but all roses that are not 
pruned at all, or are pruned but little, need to have 
their older wood cut away at intervals. Those who 
grow roses as flowering shrubs and not as mere flower- 
producing machines will naturally prune them as little 
as possible, since a rose that is cut hard back every 
spring will never have time to grow into a shapely 
plant, unless it is a very vigorous variety In a very 
rich soil. Luckily, most roses will flower well enough 
for garden purposes without very severe pruning. 
But when roses are little pruned there is the more 
need to trim and to thin them, and judicious trim- 
ming and thinning, done not only in the spring or au- 
tumn, but also after their first flush of bloom. Is one 
of the chief secrets of success with them and with 
many other flowering shrubs. There Is no routine 
about such trimming and thinning. In each case the 
gardener must exercise his common sense and be 
guided by observation and experiment. It is always 
safe to cut out old wood that seems to have lost its 
vitahty, or even younger shoots that seem exhausted 
by an excess of blossom. But some roses throw up 
new growth much quicker than others; and some 
throw up shoots bearing only masses of bloom which. 



162 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

as soon as the bloom is over, seem to have fulfilled 
their use. Such shoots may be treated like the flower- 
ing shoots of herbaceous plants and cut down as soon 
as their flowers are all withered, to encourage the pro- 
duction of new flawering shoots. Other roses make 
new wood more slowly and their wood is more en- 
during, bearing several crops of blossom in the same 
year, or year after year. But in nearly all roses the 
wood deteriorates in time and should be cut away to 
encourage new growth; and this operation is best 
done after the blossom is over. 

There is some difference of opinion about the cut- 
ting back of herbaceous plants and the extent to which 
it should be carried. No one, of course, would cut a 
shrub back hard except in the early spring or late 
autumn, since the spring is the time at which it makes 
its new growth, and if it is cut back hard in the sum- 
mer it may make no new growth and suffer for want 
of leaves to absorb food from the air. Whatever 
cutting back is done in the summer must leave enough 
growth to perform this function. This precaution 
must also be taken to some extent with herbaceous 
plants. But most of them throw up new growth much 
more quickly than most shrubs; some, indeed, such 
as Oriental Poppies, throw it up so quickly that they 
suffer very little if they are cut back very hard after 
flowering. Others, however, are slower in growing 
afresh and are weakened if they are cut down to the 
ground, especially if all their growth has been thrown 
into flowering stems, so that few or no leaves remain 



DETAILS OF SUMMER GARDENING 163 

when these are removed. Such plants as, for instance. 
Larkspurs should only be cut down to within about a 
foot of the groimd, so as to leave them with some 
leafage to absorb food from the air, just as bulbous 
plants ought not to be cut down until the bulbs are 
matured for the next year. Many herbaceous plants, 
if they are thus carefully cut down, will throw up 
new shoots and flower again in the autumn, since the 
cutting down relieves them of the strain of seed bear- 
ing. But this second bloom puts a yet greater strain 
on them, and they must be well fed if they are not 
to suffer from it. It is, therefore, a good plan to give 
a mulch of some rich material, such as manure or 
vegetable matter, to all plants of which a second crop 
of bloom is expected after the first crop of bloom is 
over. Such a mulch will also protect them from 
drought through July and August. Mulches, espe- 
cially of manm-e, are often applied at the wrong time. 
Thus in a light soil all the nourishment of a mulch 
applied in autmnn often drains away before it can 
benefit the plants; while a mulch of manure applied 
in early spring, especially on heavy soils, often does 
more harm than good if the weather is cold and damp, 
since it holds the moisture and cripples the young 
spring growth of the plants, and also harbours slugs 
and snails. The best time for a mulch, therefore, is 
when the plants most need immediate nourishment 
and protection from drought — that is to say, in 
the height of summer and during or just after their 
blooming time. Such a mulch, especially on light 



164 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

soils, is better than liquid manure, since it gives pro- 
tection from drought as well as nourishment; and, 
if it consists of spent manure from a hotbed, it will 
not be disagreeable either to the nose or to the eyes. 



THE RIGHT USE OF ANNUALS 

ANNUALS are always apt to be a diflSculty in 
. the garden, especially for those who attempt 
to solve the real problems of gardening. Many of 
them, such as Nemophila, Shirley Poppies, and Love- 
in-a-Mist, are so beautiful that one cannot do with- 
out them; yet they flower but a short time, occupy 
a good deal of space, and leave an unsightly blank 
when they cease to flower. They are not like some 
perennial plants, such as the Pinks, which are beau- 
tiful even after their short flowering season is over. 
They have their little period of beauty, and then they 
give themselves up to business, the business of seed- 
ing. They seem to know that their lives must be 
short, and, therefore, to be utterly taken up with 
the task of the moment. When the time comes for 
them to think of posterity, they think of nothing else. 
They are like poor young mothers who grow haggard 
quickly in the nursery; and in the garden one has 
no room for haggard things. One does not wish to 
be reminded of autumn and the shadow of death in 
full summer, and therefore one is inclined to clear 
annuals away as soon as they go out of flower. But 
if a great bed of Poppies is rooted up in August, what 
is to take their place? Blank spaces at that time of 

year are a reproach to the gardener, a proof that he 

165 



166 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

has failed in the chief problem of his craft. They do 
not matter so much in a very large garden, where you 
can have a series of displays for different seasons of 
the year; but in a small one, where they cannot be 
ignored, they matter a great deal. In a small garden 
the problem of annuals may well seem insoluble, and, 
indeed, it is insoluble if they are grown in the ordinary 
way. ' The great mistake which most people make 
with annuals is that they treat them too seriously, 
as seriously as Roses or Carnations, or any of the main 
and permanent ornaments of a garden. There has 
lately appeared an excellent book upon the culture 
of annuals; indeed, one of the best gardening books 
of our time.^ The author of it, Mr. C. M. A. Peake, 
has obviously a great knowledge of his subject, which 
he imparts very clearly and concisely. There is no 
fault whatever to be found with his book except that 
he takes annuals too seriously. True, in his preface 
he says that the main use of annuals, at least of hardy 
annuals, is to fill a garden quickly with bloom, where 
for some reason or other the gardener cannot wait 
for the slower glories of perennials; and in such a 
case, no doubt, it is right to take annuals very seriously. 
But there are some annuals that one cannot do without 
even in permanent gardens, and yet few can give 
them either the space or the labour which would 
be necessary on Mr. Peake's system of cultivation. 
He advises that a bed be prepared by deep digging 

1 " A Concise Handbook of Garden Annual and Biennial Plants." By 
C. M. A. Peake. 



THE RIGHT USE OF ANNUALS 167 

and manuring in autumn, that if the soil is sour it 
be dug out to a depth of 3 ft., and that a 6 in. layer 
of stones be put in for drainage, with better soil to 
fill up, and so on. Now, all his advice is very good, 
and, if it is followed, the result, no doubt, will be 
very fine flowers. But there are few gardeners who 
will be ready to take all these pains over annuals. 
If they prepare a bed thus elaborately, they will look 
for some permanent reward for their preparations. 
And yet Mr. Peake is right when he says that an- 
nuals need kind treatment, and that without it many 
of them are not worth growing. The problem, there- 
fore, is to give them kind treatment and yet not to 
waste all that treatment upon a display of a few weeks 
in the summer; and this problem is not insoluble. 

To solve it we should observe the manner in which 
annuals grow naturally. Nature does not sow them 
in spring and in masses all by themselves. Their seed 
falls as soon as it is ripe, in summer or autumn, and it 
is scattered about among other and perennial plants. 
Now we must not attempt to imitate the recklessness 
and uncalculating profusion of nature in our garden- 
ing; we must not, like her, sow seed in stony places 
or where thorns will spring up and choke it; our an- 
nuals should be sown, as all om* plants should be 
planted, in borders properly prepared, so that we 
may have as little waste and failure as possible. But 
the gardener's business is to imitate the successes of 
nature as well as to avoid her failures. There is no 
reason whatever why, with a little calculation and 



168 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

contrivance, we should not grow our annuals among 
other plants as nature grows them, why they should 
not fill up blank spaces just when they are needed, 
and why they should not be overgrown as soon as 
their flowering time is over. It is true that by grow- 
ing them on this plan we cannot have the great masses 
of one single kind of flower which the present taste 
approves. But the present taste is a little too timid 
about mixtures and contrasts of colour. Few of those 
who advise upon the colour arrangement of flowers 
seem to be aware that nearly all colours go well to- 
gether in a garden, if only they are thoroughly mixed 
up. It is the half-hearted contrasts, where only two 
or three colours are employed, and those the wrong 
ones, that are really ugly. The Orientals know mote 
about colour than we do, and in their colouring they 
imitate the audacity and profusion of nature. It is 
true, also, that if we mix up annuals with other plants, 
some of the annuals will probably be smothered. 
But this cannot be helped. Annuals are cheap, and 
the gardeners who take them most seriously thin 
them out most relentlessly. If we can leave it to 
nature to do the thinning, so much the better. 

Now nature will do the thinning for us thoroughly;' 
enough, sometimes too thoroughly, if we sow our 
annuals as she does, in the late summer or autumn. 
There is always a risk in doing this — a risk so great 
as to be scarcely worth running on very heavy soils. 
But on fairly light ones it is worth taking, since an- 
nuals are cheap. Gardeners are curiously timorous 



THE RIGHT USE OF ANNUALS 169 

about sowing in the autumn, and it is commonly sup- 
posed that only a few kinds will survive the winter 
if this is done. Yet the present writer has found that 
even Phacelia campanularia, commonly supposed to 
be a rather delicate annual, will often live through 
the winter, if it is sown early enough, on a fairly light 
soil and in a light place. Indeed, it will flourish in 
a garden year after year from self-sown seedlings; 
and so will Love-in-a-Mist and Collomia coccinea, 
an excellent and little known annual, and Linaria 
Maroccana, to say nothing of Nemophila and Bar- 
tonia aurea, and Eschscholtzia and Cornflowers, and 
other annuals which are often left to seed themselves 
in our gardens. 

It is always risky, however, to trust to self-sown 
seedlings. They may not come up when you want 
them, and you do not know where they are until 
they germinate. Yet many people who observe that 
self-sown seedlings always do better than seed which 
they have sown will not make the obvious deduction 
from that fact. They think that there is some mys- 
tery in the process of natural sowing; whereas the 
fact is merely that nature sows at the right season, 
and that her seedlings, thinned out by her winter 
severities, have time to grow strong and root deeply 
before the summer heats. 

It is worth while, therefore, to experiment largely 
with autumn or late summer sowing, especially on 
light soils, since the experiments will be cheap in any 
case, and failures can be easily remedied in the spring. 



170 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

There are some annuals, such as Nemophila, which 
become spring flowers of the greatest value if they 
are sown in autumn. ^ There are others, such as Corn- 
flowers, Sweet Sultan, Eschscholtzia, Poppies, and 
the annual Saponarias and Silenes, which very sel- 
dom do so well from a spring as from an autumn sow- 
ing. But the sowing must not be too late. The plants 
must have time to get some strength before the winter 
comes, and, therefore, most of them should be sown 
in September as early as possible. It is, of course, 
but little use to sow them when the weather is hot 
and dry, unless they can be thoroughly and frequently 
watered. Therefore, when there is a September 
drought, it is best to wait until it breaks up. Then 
sow annuals, not in great masses where they will leave 
a blank space when they die, but in any vacant patch 
in the border, and particularly in places occupied 
by dormant bulbs, such as Tulips, Daffodils, Spanish 
and English Irises. The lower growing annuals will 
do no harm to these, and, if the bulbs in their spring 
growth overshadow them a little, it will not matter 
much. Then, again, those annuals which are best 
sown in spring, such as Nasturtiums, can also be sown 
among bulbs, and the bulbs will often give them pro- 
tection from late frosts, while afterwards their flowers 



* Autumn sowing of annuals is not generally to be advised in the United 
States. In an interesting experiment, however, near Chicago in the spring 
of 1916, seeds of the following autumn-planted annuals were highly suc- 
cessful; Delphinium, Hunnemannia fumarisefolia. Calendula, Calliopsis 
Drummondi, Antirrhinum, Brachycome iberidifolia. Candytuft, Erysimum 
Perofskianum. L. Y. K. 



THE RIGHT USE OF ANNUALS 171 

will take the place of those of the bulbs. Or these 
spring-sown annuals may be placed among autumn 
Crocuses if the Crocuses are not too thickly planted, 
and then their season will be over and they can be 
cleared away just when the Crocuses begin to throw 
up their bloom. When annuals, such as Nemophila, 
Silene, and Saponaria, are sown so as to flower in 
spring, their places can be taken in turn by the more 
delicate half-hardy annuals or bedding plants that are 
put out at the beginning of June. It seems to the 
present writer that these half-hardy things are often 
unjustly decried, because they are nearly always mis- 
used. The common practice is to plant them in masses, 
so that large spaces of the garden have to undergo vio- 
lent changes and the ugliness that must result from 
such changes, often when the garden ought to be in 
its prime. The real use of half-hardy things, whether 
perennials or annuals, is to fill up blank spaces in the 
border, caused by the dying down of spring bulbs or by 
any mischance. There is no reason whatever why you 
should always plant fifty Cannas, or ivy-leaved Gera- 
niums, or Tobacco plants, where you plant one, or why 
one part of the garden should be filled only with hardy 
and another with half-hardy plants. There is no neces- 
sary incongruity between plants that are hardy and 
plants that are tender. It is merely convention that 
keeps them apart, as we may see from the Dahlia and 
the Gladiolus, which are half-hardy plants usually 
treated in a rational way and placed among hardy 
plants in the border. If we treat other half-hardy 



172 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

plants thus, especially the best half-hardy annuals, 
we shall find them most useful, and we shall avoid 
the awkward intervals of ugliness inevitable with the 
ordinary bedding system. There are gardeners who 
have a nervous fear of growing anything near their 
Roses, even if they do not grow Roses for show. There- 
fore, they keep the soil about their Roses bare, with 
the consequence that their Rose beds look ugly for 
most of the year. But Rose beds can be covered with 
low-growing plants without injury to the Roses, if 
the soil is well fed; and annuals, especially half-hardy 
annuals, are particularly suited to this purpose, because 
the soil can be thoroughly enriched before they are 
planted out and after they are removed, and also be- 
cause their roots usually have not time to grow deep 
and thick and to impoverish the ground seriously. 
Half-hardy annuals can be combined with spring bulbs, 
such as Tulips, and in such a case bedding, both 
spring and summer, has a very good reason for its ex- 
istence. But annuals bedded out in this way must not 
be too tall or strong-growing, lest they keep light and 
air from the Roses. Excellent ones for the purpose, 
both because they are low-growing and because their 
colours can usually be arranged to harmonize with 
those of the Roses, are Ageratum, Dianthus Heddewigii, 
Nemesia in pink and white shades, Phlox Drummondii, 
and Verbena. No doubt the gardener who shows his 
Roses is right to grow nothing else near them; he re- 
gards the Rose, not as a beautiful flowering shrub, but 
as a flower producing machine. Those for whom the 



THE RIGHT USE OF ANNUALS 173 

Rose is the chief of our flowering shrubs should grow 
it in beautiful surroundings, and they can do this only 
if they cover the ground about it with other beautiful 
plants. 

We have given a few suggestions for the use and 
treatment of annuals, and they are all based upon the 
idea that the annual should be employed as a stop- 
gap, not as a main feature of the garden. Since it 
is a transitory thing, it should not be treated as if it 
were permanent. It has its peculiar advantages, and 
it should be employed so as to make the most of these, 
and also so as to make the least of its peculiar disad- 
vantages. It is quick to come and also quick to go. 
Therefore, use it for emergencies. It takes some skill 
and experience to do this cleverly, but the gardener 
who can learn how to do it will add a new pleasure to 
gardening and a new beauty to his garden. 



LATE SUMMER AND AUTUMN IN THE ROCK 
GARDEN 

MOST mountain plants flower in spring and early 
summer. In the higher altitudes, of course, 
they begin late, as "the spring comes slowly up that 
way," and last well into August. But our rock gar- 
dens are not in the higher altitudes, and Alpine plants 
in them usually flower earlier than in their native 
homes. A rock garden may have many flowers in 
March, and its greatest profusion of bloom will prob- 
ably come about the middle of June with the flower- 
ing of the Pinks. Then a decline will set in, gradual 
at first, but rapid in July; and in August many rock 
gardens contain but few flowers except the last of the 
Campanulas, especially if the summer is hot and dry. 
This is certainly a defect; and it is one which cannot 
be altogether overcome, though it may be lessened 
with a little contrivance. It is in the later months 
of the summer that one begins to appreciate the value 
of those plants and shrubs which do not lose their 
fresh colour and compact habit after flowering. There 
are many rock plants which spend all their energy 
and beauty for the year in blooming, and when their 
bloom is over look weedy and dishevelled. A rock 
garden filled with these is a dull sight by August, 
however splendid it may be in June. Such plants 

174 



THE ROCK GARDEN 175 

are often the better both in health and in appear- 
ance for being cut back; but even then they have 
an ugly cropped look for some time; and one wants 
a rock garden to look always both neat and natural. 

There are luckily a good many plants, often not 
very conspicuous in their flowers, and some of them 
apt not to flower at all, which look both neat and 
fresh all the year round. One may, perhaps, grudge 
them the space which they occupy in the prime of 
the year and when all the plants are at their best; 
but afterwards they more than pay for their places. 
Every large rock garden should contain a good many 
of such plants, and particularly of the smaller and more 
prostrate shrubs, such as the prostrate Juniper, the 
Prostrate Rosemary, Cotoneaster congesta and Coto- 
neaster thymifolia, Santolina incana, and its dwarfer 
variety, Berberis dulcis nana, the dwarf Lavender, 
and the creeping Artemisias, especially A. sericea, 
which is the most vigorous and easily grown, and the 
more upright Artemisia argentea. There are also 
shrubs which have brilliant flowers in their season 
and yet never lose their beauty of foliage and habit, 
such as the Alpine rhododendrons, Helianthemum 
formosum (usually called Cistus); the varieties of 
the perennial Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens), espe- 
cially "Little Gem," and the large flowered Iberis 
corresefolia; and several species of broom such as the 
prostrate Genista pilosa, the double variety of Genista 
tinctoria, and the beautiful Cytisus purpureus.^ Some 

* Not hardy in northeastern United States. L. Y. K. 



176 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

of these are too large for a small rock garden, but 
others are not out of scale even in the smallest; and 
besides these shrubs there are many little plants that 
never deteriorate after flowering. Among these there 
is no need to do more than mention the Mossy Saxi- 
frages, the different varieties of Thymus serpyllum, 
especially alb us and lanuginosus, the dwarf Alyssum 
saxatile, Lithospermum prostratum, which often flowers 
intermittently in the late summer and autumn, Veron- 
ica repens, Veronica pectinata, Arenaria tetraquetra, 
several species of Draba, Achillea rupestris and A. 
huteri, Tanacetum argenteum, and Saxifraga apiculata. 
All of these are beautiful in their habit of growth for 
long after they have ceased to flower, and most of 
them remain beautiful all through the winter, keep- 
ing the rock garden fresh and green when borders are 
all desolate. 

But still there remains the problem of flowers; for 
greenery is well enough, but we want something be- 
sides greenery in August and September, and in many 
rock gardens we do not get it. Yet there are a good 
many rock plants that bloom well up into the autumn, 
and a few which, if not rock plants, are yet well suited 
by their habit to grow among them and which are 
autumn blooming by nature. Most of the Pinks 
flower in June, though some of them continue to 
throw up blossoms intermittently until the frosts; 
but Dianthus noeanus, a little-known species from 
Asia Minor, flowers in August. It has a very neat 
tufted habit, and pretty white and curiously fringed 



THE ROCK GARDEN 177 

flowers, and may be easily raised from seed and grown 
in any dry sunny place among rocks. Another late 
flowering plant of the pink tribe is Silene schafta, 
which also blossoms in August and September. It is 
not one of the most beautiful of the silenes, but easy 
to raise from seed and to grow; and its pink flowers 
are very useful, if a little dull in colour. Sedum Ewersii 
and S. Sieboldii are both late flowering plants with 
pink flowers and neat grey leaves. They thrive in 
any dry place, but sometimes suffer from severe frosts. 
Their foliage dies down in the winter. Polygonum 
vaccinifolium is a most valuable late-flowering plant 
for the rock garden. It has a creeping habit and soon 
covers a good deal of space. It is deciduous, and its 
leaves appear rather late; but they remain fresh and 
bright until the autumn, and it bears its delicate pink 
flowers up to the frosts. It does well on the north 
side of the rock garden in rather poor soil if it gets 
plenty of light and air. In rich soil and shady places 
it often refuses to bloom. The beautiful Polemonium 
confertum mellitum flowers both in spring and in au- 
tumn; in fact, it is apt to flower itself to death. But 
it is easily raised from seed, and does well with a north- 
west or west aspect in sandy loam and leaf mould. 
Erodium reichardi, the smallest of the Erodiums, 
flowers into late summer, and so does Erodium ma- 
cradenium. In a large rock garden Nierembergia 
rivularis is a most valuable plant for the later months. 
It makes a bright-green carpet, which keeps its fresh- 
ness well up to the frosts, and continues to throw up 



178 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

its large white flowers to the end of September, if it 
is grown on the flat in full sun, and top-dressed with 
leaf mould in the spring. It spreads so fast where it 
prospers that it is a dangerous plant for small rockeries. 
OEnothera marginata and O. taraxacifolia again are 
only plants for large rock gardens. O. marginata 
continues in bloom till September, and, where it 
thrives, increases at a great rate by underground 
suckers. It is easy enough to grow in full sun and 
light soil. 0. taraxacifolia, which often dies in the 
winter but can be easily raised from seed to flower 
the same year, blossoms up to the frosts. Both of 
these plants are prostrate in habit, and have large 
and beautiful white flowers. Zauschneria Calif ornica 
is an autumn flowering plant with brilliant scarlet 
blossoms. It also increases rapidly and needs plenty 
of room. It thrives and flowers best in a hot, dry 
place. Plumbago Larpentae, also an autumn flowering 
plant, with fine cobalt blue blossoms, may be grown 
with it. Aplopappus Brandegei is a little known but 
valuable composite from America. It is like a miuute 
sunflower, but low and bushy in growth. It flowers 
from the beginning of July to the autumn, and thrives 
in any sunny dry place. Most of the Androsaces are 
spring flowering, but Androsace lanuginosa is at its 
best in August, and often continues to bloom imtil 
the frost. It is also one of the easiest to grow, as well 
as one of the most beautiful. It likes a deep soil, 2 ft. 
at least of fibrous loam, leaf-mould and mortar rubble 
and a fairly cool situation, where its roots can run 



THE ROCK GARDEN 179 

under one rock and its stems trail over another. Wlien 
the stems get long they should be pegged down just 
under the surface of the soil, and they will soon root 
and grow into a large patch. Geranium subcaulescens, 
a fine mountain species from Greece, a little larger 
and more vigorous than G. argenteum, also remains 
long in bloom, so does Lychnis lagascae when the 
plants are young, and so does Bellis caerulescens, a 
pretty little daisy from North Africa which requires 
a warm place. 

But the best way to ensure flowers in the rock gar- 
den in the late summer and autumn is to retard the 
blossoming season of certain plants by treating them 
as annuals. This is really nothing else but bedding 
out, and pedants who object to bedding out anywhere 
will probably consider it impiety in the rock garden. 
But bedding out is wrong only when it is contrived 
so as to make plants look ugly; and there is no reason 
why they should look ugly when bedded out in the 
rock garden any more than in the border. There are 
certain beautiful rock plants which will flower the 
same year from seed, but later than if the seed is 
sown the year before. Among these are Pap aver al- 
pinus, Linaria alpina, Calandrinia umbellata. Cam- 
panula caespitosa and C. pumila (the same plant for 
garden purposes), and Antirrliinum asarina. Papaver 
alpinus and Linaria alpina will usually flower the 
same year if treated as hardy annuals; but their 
flowering may be ensured if they are sown in boxes 
in a cold frame about the end of March and planted 



180 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

out as soon as possible. This applies also to the other 
plants mentioned above. They are all very easily 
raised from seed, and if treated as annuals will come 
into flower in July and often blossom up to the frosts. 
Papaver alpinus is a plant so beautiful that it has 
moved M. Correvon to write a very pretty poem about 
it. It is like a small and more delicate Iceland poppy. 
The flowers are white, pink, orange, or yellow, and 
often delicately fringed. It must be protected from 
drought and often flowers itself to death, but repro- 
duces itself freely by self-sown seedlings. Linaria 
alpina is almost more beautiful. The type has bril- 
liant purple and orange flowers. There is a variety 
all purple and one pink and orange. It does well in 
most situations when it has plenty of Hght and air. 
It also often flowers itself to death, but seeds itself 
almost too profusely. Both of these plants should be 
transplanted with care and when they are very small. 
This also applies to Calandrinia umbellata, which 
likes the hottest, driest places and has flowers of a 
very brilliant crimson magenta colour, which might 
be ugly but for their shining silky texture. It should 
be treated as an annual, as it Is apt to die In our win- 
ters. It does best in very hot, dry summers. An- 
tirrhinum asarina is a prostrate Snapdragon from 
Spain with pale yellow flowers. It also likes a very 
hot place, and will usually survive the winter if planted 
in a crevice between the rocks and in a soil mainly 
consisting of rubble. It Is a curious and beautiful 
plant, but not suited for a wet or cold climate. Cam- 



THE ROCK GARDEN 181 

panula caespitosa, the most familiar of Alpine Hare- 
bells, will thrive almost anywhere, especially if its roots 
and long suckers can run under a rock. It should 
not be placed near any delicate Alpines, as it is very 
encroaching. There are white and pale blue varieties. 
It is, of course, a true perennial; but seedlings flower 
later than old plants, and remain in blossom until the 
frosts. Therefore it is particularly useful when treated 
as an annual. Campanula carpatica will also flower 
the same year from seed; but it is rather a large plant 
for a small rockery. 

Of all these plants that can be grown as annuals 
Linaria alpina is the most useful, since it will scarcely 
smother the most minute Alpines when growing in 
the poor soil which most small Alpines like, while in 
better soil and on the north side of the rock garden 
it grows much stronger and will give the right amount 
of shade to plants such as the Alpine primulas, Saxi- 
fraga apiculata, and Morisia hypogaea. It multiplies 
so quickly by means of self-sown seedlings that it be- 
comes almost a weed, but its growth is so slight and 
delicate that scarcely any plant can be harmed by it. 
There are also some true annuals that can be used 
to brighten the rock garden in autumn, such as the 
dwarfest form of Alyssum maritimum and the delicate 
little lonopsidium acaule, which, if sown early in the 
spring, will seed and flower again from self-sown seed- 
lings in the autumn. Nor is there any reason in the 
nature of things why Lobelia, a beautiful plant made 
unpopular by misuse, should not be employed in this 



182 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

way. These annuals and others as small in their 
growth should be sown or planted in the bare places 
left by early flowering bulbs, such as Chionodoxas 
and the spring and winter Irises and the dwarf Daf- 
fodils. But there are also bulbs well fitted for the 
rock garden which will flower in the late summer and 
autumn. One of the best of these is Anomatheca 
cruenta, a plant like a miniature gladiolus with bright 
crimson-scarlet flowers, which grows about half a 
foot high, and which should be planted in spring and 
lifted for the winter. There are also the autumn 
flowering Crocuses, such as Crocus speciosus, C. 
zonatus, and C. pulchellus, all with delicate lilac- 
coloured flowers, the autumn flowering Cyclamens, 
and the beautiful autumn Snowflake, Acis autum- 
nalis, which likes a cool place and very sandy soil. 
The Colchicums are not so suitable for the rock gar- 
den, as they throw up very large leaves in the spring; 
but Sternbergia lutea is a Gne plant for large rock gar- 
dens, and will flower from the end of September al- 
most up to Christmas. It is sometimes rather a shy 
bloomer, but seems to do best in warm sheltered places 
and light soil with a good dose of manure well below 
the bulbs. It also Hkes lime. All of these bulbs, ex- 
cept perhaps Acis autumnalis, are the better for a 
covering of one of the smaller Stonecrops, so that the 
groimd they occupy need never be bare. 



THE PROBLEM OF THE HERBACEOUS 
BORDER 

GARDENERS often write and talk as if it were 
quite easy to keep a herbaceous border full of 
flowers for six or seven months of the year. Now if 
it were easy, the bedding-out system, with its obvious 
disadvantages, would surely never have come into 
vogue; and as a matter of fact it is not easy; indeed, 
it is probably impossible; and gardeners of the greatest 
skill and taste do not attempt it. The real problem 
of the herbaceous border is not to keep it in full flower 
from April to October, but to prevent it from looking 
like a spent firework after the first flush of summer 
bloom is over. Some of the noblest herbaceous plants, 
such as Larkspurs and Oriental Poppies, have this 
grave defect, that they become ugly and ragged as 
soon as they go out of flower, and even with the best 
cultivation remain ugly and ragged for some time. 
During this period, since the better grown they are 
the more space they occupy, they are an ugly blot 
upon the border, and a border that is filled with plants 
of this kind may be very splendid for a while, but 
when half the summer is over it will begin to look 
autumnal. It is easy enough to have some flowers 
in blossom in the border so long as there is sun and 
warmth enough to bring flowers out at all; but a 

183 



184 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

border will not look beautiful unless it has that air 
of prosperity which is attained without difficulty in 
Jime, but not in August. 

Now many borders lose this air of prosperity too 
early, just because their owners are too eager for a 
profusion of bloom at the time when flowers are most 
plentiful. They fill the border with the flowers they 
like best. Larkspurs, Irises, Madonna Lilies, Poppies, 
Pansies, Columbines, and so on, and do not consider 
what is to happen when these are spent. Even if 
they vary these with later-blooming plants, such as 
Phloxes and Michaelmas Daisies, they forget the gaps 
that will remain when their favourites go out of flower. 

There is a fashion just now for the herbaceous bor- 
der; but that fashion will not last unless gardeners 
arrive at a clear understanding of what can be done 
with the herbaceous border and what cannot, and 
unless they evolve sound principles for its treatment. 
Otherwise, sooner or later there will be a reaction 
in favour of bedding-out, with its long succession of 
bloom and its persistent neatness and air of prosperity. 
We are apt at present to think that there is no need 
for a border to look neat; in fact, that the desire for 
neatness is a proof of perverted taste. But that de- 
sire is a natural one, and has always existed. It is 
quite a modern idea that gardens should emulate the 
wildness of nature, and one that could only arise 
among a people to whom the wildness of nature is 
becoming an unwonted luxury. It is, in fact, the 
most artificial form of a nature worship that is itself 



THE HERBACEOUS BORDER 185 

a reaction against excessive artifice; and, like all 
artificial things, we may be sure it will not last. The 
desire for neatness will revive again; indeed, it has 
never died in those who care for the art as well as the 
craft of gardening; and they should make it their 
business to solve the problem of the herbaceous bor- 
der, to combine its variety and profusion with neat- 
ness and order. Only if they do this will they secure 
it against a reaction which will lead to the old excesses, 
to the foolish neatness of carpet bedding, the dull 
monotony of ribbon borders. 

There are some gardeners with large gardens who 
keep different borders for different times of year; and 
this is an excellent plan if the garden is large enough 
to make it possible. Indeed, it is the only method 
that will bring the full glory of every season into the 
garden. But it is not a method for every one; and 
most people, even if their gardens are large, have 
borders near the house which they wish to be beauti- 
ful during all the months in which the garden can be 
enjoyed at all. Such borders shoidd be planned sys- 
tematically and with foresight, and, above all, with 
a clear understanding that they cannot be all full of 
flowers from April to October. It is the desire for 
too many flowers that has produced the worst abuses 
of bedding out; and only those who have rid them- 
selves of this desire can solve the problem of the her- 
baceous border. They must also rid themselves of 
pedantic prejudices against all plants that are not 
hardy perennials. No doubt the herbaceous border. 



186 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

if we are to make a fetish of It, should be filled only 
with herbaceous plants — that is to say, with hardy 
plants that die down in the winter. But this would 
mean the exclusion of German Irises, Yuccas, all 
shrubs, Pinks, and, indeed, all plants that give the 
garden beauty and interest in the winter; and no one 
would carry fanaticism so far as that. We will as- 
sume, then, that our herbaceous border is not to be 
all herbaceous; indeed, that it is to contain any plants 
that we can grow and that will contribute to its beauty. 
The essence of the herbaceous border, for those who 
are not the slaves of a name, consists in its variety, 
continuity, and permanence. The best herbaceous 
borders are full of contrasts both of colour and form; 
their beauty persists from spring to autumn, and 
some of it remains even in the winter; while they 
look as if they had been long established and long 
cared for. 

This air of permanence is not easy to impart to a 
border; indeed, it cannot be imparted by means of 
herbaceous plants alone or without orderly and syste- 
matic arrangement. It can only be attained by the 
use of shrubs and other plants which keep their beauty, 
or some part of it, throughout the year, or at least 
through the spring, summer, and autumn. These 
shrubs and plants should be regarded as the per- 
manent part of the border design, as the framework 
to be planned and determined first, after which the 
more ephemeral details can be filled in. But if shrubs 
are planted in a border they must be in character with 



THE HERBACEOUS BORDER 187 

the idea of a border, and they must not interfere with 
the health of the other plants in it; for, after all, a 
border is not a shrubbery. There are luckily a good 
number of shrubs, compact in their growth as well 
as beautiful, not too wide rooting, and so long associated 
with herbaceous plants that they will not look incon- 
gruous in a herbaceous border. The best of these 
are the most familiar, such as Rosemary, Lavender, 
Lavender Cotton (Santolina), some of the Cistuses, 
some of the Shrubby Veronicas, and Southernwood, 
which, however, has this disadvantage, that it does 
not keep its beauty through the winter. All of these 
shrubs not only have a quiet beauty of their own, 
but also serve as excellent foils to more brilliant plants; 
while some of them, of course, are worth growing for 
their flowers alone. They should, as we have said, 
be arranged systematically and so as to make the 
framework of the border's design. If they are dotted 
about at random, a great part of their effect is lost. 
But while he is planting them the gardener must 
consider how he can best combine them with the 
more ephemeral plants, and he must not arrange 
them so regularly as to suggest hedges. Their chief 
purpose is to "pull the border together," to make a 
kind of permanent pattern that is distributed all over 
it. This pattern, therefore, must be contrived so 
that no part of it will be obscured at any time by 
tall-growing herbaceous plants. There is no use in a 
well-rounded clump of Lavender if a great Larkspur 
grows up in front of it. Rather the Larkspur should 



188 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

be masked by the Lavender, so that it is only seen 
rising behind it in its prime. Those shrubs will make 
the best pattern and the best contrast with herbaceous 
plants which are conspicuous for their glaucous leaves; 
and these should not be used in too great variety. 
Three different kinds of shrubs, such as Lavender,^ 
Rosemary, and the tall Cistus cyprius behind, are 
quite enough for any border, even the largest. In- 
deed, if the tall and dwarf Lavender are used in com- 
bination, they, with the Cistus, will make an ex- 
cellent framework for any border. They should be 
planted regularly, the dwarf Lavender in the fore- 
ground directly in front of the Cistus in the back- 
ground, and the taller Lavender haK-way back in the 
intervals. Shrubs so used should never be allowed to 
grow straggly, but should be kept symmetrical and 
compact by clipping. If the reader fears that such 
a regular arrangement of only two or three kinds of 
shrubs would look monotonous, he should remember 
that it can be combined, not only with an infinite 
variety of herbaceous plants, but also with plants of 
lasting beauty, such as Pinks, Yuccas, some of the 
Sea Hollies, and the German Irises, which will help 
to diversify the permanent design. 

When a border is planned and planted in this manner, 
the gardener should not be in too great a hurry for 
an abundance of flowers. His first object should be 
to get the plants forming his permanent design well 

^ Lavender in the United States needs protection, and C. cyprius is not 
hardy in the Northern States. L. Y. K. 



THE HERBACEOUS BORDER 189 

established and well grown. He should not, there- 
fore, crowd and smother them while still small with 
quick-growing herbaceous plants. If he has patience 
enough, he w^ill do well to give his shrubs two years 
start of the larger herbaceous plants, for the shrubs 
will be worse than useless in the border unless they 
are thoroughly shapely and well grown; and it is 
very easy to spoil a young plant of Lavender amid 
the rank summer growth of a rich border. 

There is, of course, less need to mask the later 
flowering herbaceous plants with permanent shrubs 
than the earlier. Indeed, plants like Dahlias, Michael- 
mas Daisies, and Chrysanthemums may be employed 
to hide the Larkspurs and Poppies when they have 
ceased to be beautiful; and the gardener in planning 
his border should place his tall early-flowering plants 
behind his tall late-flowering plants, not, of course, 
in monotonous rows but in a broken though regular 
order. An ordered diversity is the secret of com- 
position in a border as in most other things. The eye 
should not be drawn from end to end by straight lines 
of the same plants all flowering together, nor should 
it be bewildered by a mere confusion. It should be 
conscious of a framework in the design provided by 
the repetition of certain prominent plants and relieved 
by diversity of detail. Parts of this framework must, 
as we have said, be permanent. Other parts may de- 
pend upon the flowering season of different conspicuous 
plants, such as Larkspurs, Paeonies, Phloxes, and 
Dahlias, placed at regular intervals. But the design 



190 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

must always be made up of plants conspicuous in some 
way or another, either in their foliage or in their habit 
of growth, and the less conspicuous plants should be 
used only for diversity and contrast. 

The front of the border, since all of it is always 
visible, is more difficult to plan than the back, and 
has an even greater need of permanent features. Many 
gardeners overlook this fact. They aim at a continuous 
blaze of flowers in the front of their borders, even when 
they are content with alternations of flower and leaf- 
age behind; and the result often is untidiness just 
where the border ought to be most tidy. It is also 
a mistake in design to have an unbroken line of bright 
colour in front of a more varied background, as the 
eye is then absorbed by the foreground, and can only 
get away from it by an effort. There is, therefore, 
an even stronger reason for alternations of flower and 
leafage in the front of a border than behind, and 
these alternations should be carefully planned. No 
plants are more useful as permanent features in the 
front of the border than the Garden Pinks; and these 
should not be planted in monotonous rows, but at 
regular intervals and alternating with other plants 
such as Pansies, which will remain longer in bloom 
and will contrast with them both in flower and in 
leafage. If the ordinary Pansies are used they may be 
removed after their first flush of bloom and replaced 
by bedding plants such as Verbenas or Ivy-leafed 
Geraniums, or any beautiful and low-growing half- 
hardy annuals. But if the gardener wishes to avoid 



THE HERBACEOUS BORDER 191 

the trouble and expense of bedding out he can alternate 
his Pinks with Violas or Tufted Pansles, which will, 
if well treated, blossom for most of the summer and 
can be cut back when they are spent and straggly. 
Behind these low-growing plants he can arrange an- 
other alternation of more or less permanent plants, 
such as the dwarf Lavender, Santollna, the dwarf 
Alyssum, Campanula carpatica, Pentstemons, Aquilegia 
caerulea, and many others. Here, too, he may replace 
spring with summer flowering plants; and here will 
be the place for many bulbs, such as the dwarf er 
early flowering Gladioli, the varieties of Llllum elegans, 
the May Tulips, Camassia esculenta, English and 
Spanish Irises, and Montbretias, which should be 
planted near the more permanent shrubby plants 
and will be an admirable contrast to them both in 
growth and flower. Indeed, the secret of the right 
use of bulbs In a border is to contrast them with plants 
of a different and more permanent growth. They 
should never be relied on for the main effect, as they 
are usually insignificant when out of flower and do 
not flower very long. So they should be planted in 
clumps and not In lines, and their position should 
be determined by that of the plants with which they 
are intended to contrast. These are only notes upon 
a large and difficult subject, but It Is hoped that they 
may illustrate some of the principles of border design. 



THE TREATMENT OF BULBS 

WRITING lately upon the use of bulbs in the 
border we said that the secret of that use 
was to contrast them with plants of a different growth. 
This is also true, we think, of their use in every part 
of the garden. The beauty of monocotyledonous 
plants is usually altogether different in character 
from the beauty of dicotyledonous plants; more 
simple, fugitive, and strange. Now the term bulb is 
a vague one, especially as it is used in nurserymen's 
catalogues, where it is often applied to any kind of 
tuberous or fleshy root, whether of a monocotyledonous 
or a dicotyledonous plant. But in this article we 
shall use it, not in the narrowest possible sense, but 
only of monocotyledonous plants with bulbous roots 
which are dormant for a certain period of the year; 
and we shall use it thus, not for any scientific reason, 
but because we wish to suggest certain principles for 
the treatment of such plants in the garden, based 
both upon the character of their beauty and upon 
the habit of remaining dormant for a certain period 
of the year. 

The purpose of the old-fashioned treatment of the 
best known bulbous plants, such as Tulips, Hyacinths, 
and Narcissi, was to produce a great blaze of blossom 
for a short time. They were planted by themselves 

192 



THE TREATMENT OF BULBS 193 

in regiments; and when they were out of flower they 
were taken up to make room for other plants. This 
treatment took no heed of their individual beauty of 
form. Each plant was considered only as contribut- 
ing to a great mass of colour, and certainly these 
masses of colour were very splendid. But a great 
part of the beauty of a Tulip consists in its form, in 
the shape of its flower, the manner in which it carries 
its flower, and the contrast between the shape and 
carriage of the flower and the shape and carriage of 
the leaves. All this beauty was lost when Tulips 
were arranged in regiments. But, on the other hand, 
it must be admitted that a single Tulip is too small 
and too simple in its form to produce much effect 
in any arrangement of flowers; and this is true also 
of most bulbous plants; besides this, their flowering 
period is usually short. Therefore, if we are to make 
the best possible use of their beauty, we must arrange 
them so that a great part of that beauty may not be 
lost in a blaze of colour, but also so that it may not 
be frittered away by too scattered planting. The 
best way to do this is to combine them with plants 
of a very different habit of growth and character of 
flowers; and of such combinations there is an infinite 
variety. We have spoken of the difference in the 
beauty of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. 
That difference is a fortunate fact in Nature, by 
means of which she produces some of her most ex- 
quisite contrasts; and it is the gardener's business 
to observe such contrasts and to base his own ar- 



194 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

rangements upon them. We have said that mono- 
cotyledonous plants are apt to be more simple, fugi- 
tive, and strange in their beauty than dicotyledonous 
plants; and the gardener should attempt to contrast 
simplicity with complexity, fugitiveness with per- 
manence, and strangeness with familiarity. This he 
may do in many different ways. He may, to take 
one of the most obvious, plant his Tulips among 
Pansies or Forget-me-nots, so that they will rise 
through the contrasting carpet of less simple leaved 
flowers, as Daffodils rise through the grass. A hun- 
dred Tulips all of the same kind so planted will not 
lose any of their beauty of form, since it will be em- 
phasized by the contrasting beauty of the carpeting 
plants; and it is only by means of an arrangement 
of this kind that the true beauty of Hyacinths can be 
seen. Many people condemn them as stiff; and, 
indeed, when they are planted out in rows by them- 
selves they are as stiff as a row of Lombardy Poplars. 
But as the beauty of the Lombardy Poplar only shows 
itself in contrast with trees of a more spreading growth, 
so the beauty of the Hyacinth only shows itself in 
the same kind of contrast. No one would think of 
growing Bluebells in regiments, because we are all 
familiar with the manner in which Nature grows 
them. But the regimental system is even more fatal 
to the beauty of the garden Hyacinth. 

This plan of carpeting bulbs with other plants of 
a very different habit is now very general, but not so 
universal as it should be. Many people who are de- 



THE TREATMENT OF BULBS 195 

lighted with the beauty of bulbs in the grass will yet 
grow the same bulbs in beds or borders on the old 
regimental system, and they do this, probably, be- 
cause they think it saves trouble to the gardener. 
It is so easy to fill a bed with Tulips in the autumn 
and then to lift them when they have gone out of 
flower to make room for summer bedding. But it is 
just as easy to combine them with plants such as 
Pansies, Forget-me-nots, the double Arabis, and 
many early flowering annuals, which may be removed 
at the same time to make room for the summer bed- 
ding. In the herbaceous border, however, the prob- 
lem of the right use of bulbs is less easy; and yet 
it is not very diflScult. True, there are many bulbs 
which are best lifted as soon as they die down, and 
there are others which resent disturbance at the very 
time when the border may need to be dug over. But 
both these difficulties may be overcome with a little 
contrivance and foresight. Take, for instance, the 
case of bulbs such as Tulips and Hyacinths, which 
usually should be lifted at least every other year. 
These may be planted in considerable masses among 
carpeting plants or in clumps of eight or ten sur- 
rounded with plants that will contrast with them; 
and they may be taken up without difficulty when 
they have died down, and without injuring the plants 
about them. The arrangement in clumps is best 
suited to the taller May flowering Tulips and to other 
tall bulbs such as the Camassias, Gladioli, English 
and Spanish Irises, Crown Imperial Lilies, most of 



196 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

the true Lilies, and Galtonias. Some of these, espe- 
cially Madonna Lilies, resent disturbance, and it is 
the bulbs which resent disturbance that we have 
learnt to grow in the most beautiful and rational way. 
No doubt, if Madonna Lilies could be treated like 
Tulips, they would often be bedded out like Tulips, 
and all their beauty would be spoilt. As it is, we grow 
them in the border and treat them like herbaceous 
plants, with excellent results. We should extend the 
same treatment to other bulbous plants, so far as 
their needs will allow. Thus, the May flowering 
Tulips should be planted in clumps of eight or ten at 
regular intervals along a border, and if a hundred or 
more of the same kind — say, of Gesneriana or Picotee 
— are then planted in the same border, they will pro- 
duce a brilliant effect of colour just when it is most 
needed, whether in contrast with flowering plants 
about them such as Wallflower or Forget-me-not, 
or with shrubs not yet in flower, such as Lavender 
or Santolina. And, if necessary, they may be lifted 
when they die down, just as Wallflowers and Forget- 
me-not are taken up when they go out of flower, and 
other plants or bulbs may be put in their place. 

The contrast between the grey foliage of shrubs, 
such as Lavender or Santolina or Southernwood, and 
the brilliant flowers of bulbs, such as Gladioli, Eng- 
lish and Spanish Irises, and some of the smaller Lilies, 
is always most effective; and the beauty of the con- 
trast depends as much upon the difference of char- 
acter in the plants as upon difference of colour. The 



THE TREATMENT OF BULBS 197 

bulbs, with their fugitive brilHance, seem to have 
sought the protection of the more enduring shrubs. 
And this is not altogether fancy in some cases; for 
Lilies never thrive so well as when they are close to 
shrubs, not only because the shrubs protect them 
from frost when their growth is young and tender, 
but because they like a very rooty soil. Thus, both 
for horticultural and aesthetic reasons, it is well to 
grow Lilies such as L. Chalcedonicum and L. pom- 
ponium close to shrubs such as Lavender or Santolina 
or Rosemary; and both the beauty and the health 
of the Lilies will be improved by the association. 
Among such shrubs also may be grown the different 
kinds of Gladioli, particularly the early flowering 
ones, which should be planted in the autumn and 
which will get valuable protection from the shrubs 
when their growth first appears in the winter. The 
later Gladioli, if so treated, may take the place of 
Tulips when they are lifted, and shrubs will be much 
less dangerous neighbours to them than herbaceous 
plants which, especially in wet summers, often grow 
with incalculable rapidity. If bulbs are associated 
with herbaceous plants the best effect will be obtained 
where there is the greatest contrast of growth. Thus 
bulbs which throw up tall straight spikes of bloom 
should not be planted among herbaceous plants which 
flower in the same way, but rather among plants of 
an altogether different habit — for instance. Gladioli 
among Gypsophilas; Madonna Lilies among the 
lilac flowered Goat's Rue (Galega); Orange Lilies (L. 



198 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

croceum) with Erigeron speciosus; Lilium elegans 
with Linum perenne or Nepeta mussini (Catmint); 
Tiger Lilies with Eryngiums; Galtonias with the pink 
Lavatera trimestris, and so on. But in all such com- 
bination care must be taken not to place bulbs too 
close to some herbaceous plant that will make a strong 
growth before they do, and so smother them before 
they have a chance of asserting themselves. 

The later and larger growing bulbs are much easier 
to deal with in the border than the many little bulbs 
that flower early in the spring and then die down 
and remain dormant until autumn. It is possible, 
of course, to lift bulbs like Crocuses, Scilla sibirica, 
Scilla bifolia, the Chionodoxas, the Puschkinias, and 
the Muscaris as soon as they are dormant, and to 
plant them again in the autumn. But it is a trouble- 
some business; and many of them do better if left 
imdisturbed. Yet, though they make the border 
beautiful in early spring, they leave blank spaces 
just when it is expected to be fullest. If they are to 
be grown in the border they can be covered with 
Sedum album, which will not interfere with their 
growth, and which is green all the winter and very 
pretty when in flower. In this case they must be 
planted well in the front of the border as the Sedum, 
if it is to do well and flower, must not be overshadowed 
by other plants. But, indeed, these smaller bulbs 
always do best in the front of the border, as they are 
apt to be forgotten and dug up if they are among 
large herbaceous plants, and also they do not get 
the summer sun which most of them need to ripen 



THE TREATMENT OF BULBS 199 

them. It is also possible, of course, to sow some low- 
growing hardy annual over them, especially over the 
Scillas and Chionodoxas, which like to be planted deep 
in a light soil. But this is not so easy to manage with 
Crocuses, which like to be planted just under the sur- 
face. The best plan of all, perhaps, with these little 
bulbs is to plant the Crocuses and Muscaris in the 
grass, where they will thrive, and the Scillas and 
Chionodoxas and Puschkinias on some sunny bank 
which they can have to themselves. Such a bank 
may be carpeted with Sedum with excellent effects. 
Scilla sibirica may also be grown in the grass, where 
it is not too thick and coarse; but it usually thrives 
better under a Sedum. 

There are the same difficulties to be dealt with in 
the case of the smaller autumn flowering bulbs, such 
as Crocus speciosus. Crocus zonatus, and Crocus 
pulchellus, Sternbergia lutea, and the Colchicums. 
The last of these will usually do well in the grass where 
the soil is good and not too dry. The others are best 
grown like the Chionodoxas in places which they can 
have to themselves. The autumn Crocuses can be 
mixed with Scillas and Chionodoxas, so that there 
may be flowers in the same spot both in spring and 
autumn. They are of the easiest culture. Stern- 
bergias are not so easy, and in some places they re- 
fuse to flower. They seem to require a light soil and 
a warm sheltered place, and they are the better for 
lime in the soil. A carpeting of Sedum will protect 
them in the winter. 

In most gardens there are odd places too dry or 



200 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

poor for ordinary herbaceous plants in which most 
of these smaller bulbs will thrive, and where they 
should be planted in large numbers. Even if such 
spots are flowerless in summer, it is a great pleasure 
to have them covered with flowers in spring or au- 
tumn, and one which is very easily obtained. 



ENGLISH IDEALS OF GARDENING 

GARDENING in England, like music in Ger- 
many, is a national and popular art; and just 
as music in Germany is based upon folk song, so gar- 
dening in England is based upon the cottage garden. 
German music, when it has tended to become arti- 
ficial or exotic, has been simplified and quickened 
by a return to folk song, the lasting affection for which 
has protected the German taste in music from those 
perversities to which it is subject in other arts. It 
has provided a standard of simplicity and sincerity 
by which even the most elaborate compositions are 
judged, just the kind of standard which Tolstoy has 
tried to set up in his "What is Art.^^" And the Eng- 
lish cottage garden has provided the same kind of 
standard for the art of gardening, and in the same 
way has redeemed that art from exotic perversities. 
When the bedding-out mania was at its height, it 
was the spectacle of cottage gardens, with their beauty 
that seemed as natural to the English countryside 
as the very meadows and hedgerows, which gave 
people a disgust for their rows of Calceolarias and 
Geraniums and Lobelias. But for the cottage gar- 
dens they would never have been even aware of the 
existence of all the beautiful old plants which had 
been banished so long from the gardens of the rich; 

20] 



202 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

still less would they have been aware of the right 
manner of growing them. It was because gardening 
was a national art practised by the poor for love, and 
not as a fashionable amusement, that it recovered 
so suddenly from those perversities of taste which 
infected nearly all arts in the nineteenth century. 
But it would not have so recovered unless the tastes 
of rich and poor had been really alike, unless the 
rich had found in the gardens of the poor what they 
desired in their own gardens. This is the great dif- 
ference between gardening in England and in other 
countries, that in England the cottage garden sets 
the standard, whereas in other countries the standard 
is set by the garden of the palace or the villa. And 
the reason for this is that, though circumstances have 
made us herd together in towns, we remain at heart 
a country people, unlike the French or the Italians, 
and more even than the Germans. This may be 
clearly seen in our architecture, with which, of course, 
our gardening, so long as it remains an art, is closely 
connected. Even in the Middle Ages the great French 
Cathedrals were designed as town buildings, and made 
to tower above the houses close about them. But 
the more lowly English Cathedrals were intended to 
be seen in broad closes, and half of their beauty is 
lost without a close, just as half the beauty of a French 
Cathedral is lost when it is isolated. But the peculiar 
genius of the English builders has been shown more 
in village churches and tithe barns and country houses 
even than in Cathedrals; whereas the peculiar genius 



ENGLISH IDEALS OF GARDENING 203 

of the French has been shown in Cathedral and cha- 
teaux, and of the ItaHans in palaces. These inveterate 
country tastes of ours are, no doubt, the chief reason 
why our towns are so incoherent and ugly. Our hearts 
are never in the town, even when we are forced to 
live in it, and our idea of improving it is to make it 
as much like the country as we can. Thus our town 
architecture is always apt to be freakish and incon- 
gruous, putting on airs of rustic simplicity or medieval 
romance, trying to make us believe that we are any- 
where rather than in a modern city; and thus the 
gardens of our squares are desolate parodies of wood- 
land and meadow. The foreigner, who has heard of 
the English passion for gardening, must suppose that 
passion to be extinct when he looks through the rail- 
ings of a London square at the thickets of privet and 
the grass worn bare with the drip from grimy and dis- 
consolate trees. He cannot know that in these dread- 
ful places the Englishman has attempted an impos- 
sible task and given it up in despair; that having an 
open space in the heart of a town he has tried to per- 
suade himself that it is a still surviving piece of the 
country which he loves. A Frenchman w^ould treat 
such a space as an annexe to the houses around it, 
as a kind of outdoor parlour common to the inhabi- 
tants of all those houses, and he would decorate it 
like a parlour with ornaments, which, whether they 
were shrubs or statuary or flowers, he would keep in 
their proper place. Perfectly content with town life, 
he would have no wish to make believe that he was 



204 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

in the country. Indeed, he would be more inclined 
when in the country to make believe that he was in 
the town. Thus his gardening, and also the Italian 
gardening, is seen at its best in the town and at its 
worst in the country, unlike ours which is country 
gardening and will not acclimatize itself to the town. 
It is true, of course, that the gardening of our parks 
is excellent, better indeed than any in Paris; but 
that is just because those parks are large enough to 
admit of country gardening, because flowers can be 
well grown, and trees and large shrubs are not mere 
nuisances in them. The gardeners of our parks have 
managed with admirable art to make their flowers 
seem at home where they are planted, an art which 
the Paris gardeners, skilful as they are, have not ac- 
quired. Even in towns we are supreme in the manage- 
ment of flowers, wherever flowers can be well grown; 
and the reason is that we think of a garden as a place 
for flowers, whereas for the Frenchman or the Italian 
it is an outdoor parlour which may be ornamented 
with flowers or with other things according to the 
taste of its owner. 

This love of flowers is part of our love for the coun- 
try, and consequently it is a love of flowers growing 
rather than picked. We may compare it with the 
Italian love of painting, not merely in the form of 
pictures, but as a decoration to walls, which still per- 
sist although the great masters of fresco have long 
passed away and although it is often put to absurd 
uses. Those who have only seen Italian pictures in 



ENGLISH IDEALS OF GARDENING 205 

galleries can never understand the purpose and full 
beauty of Italian painting; they can never know 
what a natural growth it was, until they see the frescoes 
and altar-pieces where they were meant to be. Such 
works in galleries are like picked flowers, still beauti- 
ful indeed, but robbed of half their original beauty 
because they have been severed from their native 
soil; and just as an Italian of the fifteenth century 
would feel if he saw the altar-piece of his native 
Cathedral in the National Gallery, so we feel when 
we see the flowers of our gardens picked and arranged 
in bouquets in shop windows. Foreigners do not 
usually seem to have this delight in the beauty of 
growing flowers. They like them just as well picked 
as growing. Indeed they are apt to grow them so 
artificially that they have no more beauty when grow- 
ing than when picked. For them flowers are always 
mere ornaments, whether of the house or of the gar- 
den. But for us they are living things with a beauty 
dependent upon the whole of their life. This love of 
flowers as living things, and therefore not only of 
flowers but of plants, is the basis of English garden- 
ing, the cause both of its virtues and of its faults. 
It was overcome for a while in the last century and 
in the gardens of the rich; but it persisted all the 
while among cottagers; and it is from cottagers that 
the rich regained it. There are beairtiful cottage 
gardens everywhere in England, because the English- 
man loves growing flowers for their own sake, as the 
German loves music; and it is this love of growing 



206 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

flowers which has made gardening a popular art in 
England. 

In other countries, where there is not the same 
love of growing flowers, the palace and not the cot- 
tage garden sets the standard, and therefore gar- 
dening is not a popular art; for the poor man cannot 
hope to compete with the rich in the way of palatial 
gardens, any more than in the way of palatial archi- 
tecture. But he can compete with the rich in the 
growing of plants since he can grow his plants for 
himself, whereas the rich man must hire a gardener 
to do it for him. Thus in England many a rich man 
has envied the beauty of a cottage garden, and tried 
to imitate it in his own; but abroad little gardens, 
when there are any, are apt to be imitations of the 
gardens of the rich; and in Italy or France it is the 
sumptuous gardens that delight us with their terraces 
and avenues and cascades, whereas in England we 
get most pleasure from the little flowery patches and 
clipped yew hedges and arches by the roadside. For- 
eigners sometimes wonder how it is that, with all our 
great poets, our common life seems to be so prosaic. 
The poetry of the English nature expresses itself in 
gardens as the poetry of the German nature in folk- 
song; and by means of gardens it is intimately con- 
nected with our common life. Once it expressed it- 
self also in building, and more directly and clearly 
in the homelier kinds of building than in great cathe- 
drals or palaces. Once we had a true folk-art in our 
cottages and farmhouses as well as in our gardens. 



ENGLISH IDEALS OF GARDENING 207 

That is almost lost, although there are now some 
signs of its revival; but it still persists in our gar- 
dens and through them it may some day return into 
our architecture; for the persistence of the cottage 
garden proves that the spirit which produced the 
beautiful cottage of the past is still alive, even though 
the cottage garden may grow up about a white-brick 
and blue-slated villa. 

The love of growing plants is the cause both of 
the virtues and the faults of English gardening. One 
instance of the faults may be noticed in the desolate 
gardens of our London squares. These must be fail- 
ures, as they are attempts to do what is impossible. 
But in our larger country gardens are often to be 
found errors of the same kind, though not so fatal. 
The rich man, who admires a cottage garden and who 
tries to imitate its beauty in his own grounds, is apt 
to forget that a great part of that beauty depends 
upon the fact that the cottage garden is planned to 
suit its own small scale, that the art of cottage gar- 
dening has grown up through centuries and has adapted 
itself perfectly to its own conditions. The conditions 
of the large garden are different and require a different 
and more difficult kind of design; while its traditions 
have been broken by several violent changes of taste, 
such as the landscape mania of the eighteenth century 
and the bedding-out mania of the nineteenth. It is 
certainly possible for our larger gardens to have some of 
the beauty of the cottage garden; but they must attain 
to that beauty in their own way, and, in aiming at 



208 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

it, they must not lose sight of the different kinds of 
beauty that is proper to large spaces. It has often 
been remarked that, in certain details, such as their 
porches and west fronts, our cathedrals were designed 
as if they were little churches; and, in the same way 
and for the same reasons, our modern large gardens 
are often designed on a small scale suggested by the 
cottage garden. The borders are not long enough, 
the lawns not large enough, the paths too often broken 
and curved, the shrubs dotted about without any 
system or purpose. There are other reasons for these 
defects besides the cottage garden ideal. One is the 
landscape fashion which has not yet passed away; 
another is the new fashion for having different kinds 
of gardens, rock and water and rose, or gardens for 
different seasons of the year; and another, closely 
connected with the last, is the growing interest in the 
more difficult kinds of horticulture, in the culture of 
plants that require special conditions. The am- 
bitious gardener nowadays is apt to lose sight of de- 
sign altogether in his attempts to solve different 
horticultural problems; and he is the more ready to 
lose sight of design because he does not understand 
that a large garden will not look as well as a cottage 
garden, unless its design, like that of the cottage 
garden, is adapted to its scale. A large garden can 
no more imitate a cottage garden than a large house 
can imitate a cottage. Just as the irregularity which 
is pleasing and full of character in a cottage becomes 
incoherent and absurd in a large house, so the ir- 



ENGLISH IDEALS OF GARDENING 209 

regular planting and planning of a cottage garden, 
which are pleasing when they are made necessary by 
its smallness, become merely chaotic when they oc- 
cur in a large space where there is no need for them. 
Our older garden designers of the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries knew this thoroughly. At their best 
they could design gardens that were both stately and 
simple, perfectly suited to the noble houses which 
they surrounded, and with no pretence to be either 
wild or palatial. Then, as there were houses fitted 
for every station of life, so there were gardens fitted 
for every kind of house. The first invasion of this 
happy state of things was made by the Dutch fash- 
ion of over-elaboration and formality against which 
Marvell protested in some beautiful verses. Then 
came the French and Italian palatial ideals, which, 
however, never got much hold in this country; and 
then the violent reaction of landscape gardening, 
which ended in a chaos, from which we have not yet 
emerged. The cottage garden has delivered us from 
the minor, but most disastrous, fashion of bedding 
out. It has given us back some of our old delight in 
gardens, but it cannot by itself give us back the true 
principles of design. These, probably, can only be 
recovered with the true principles of architecture. 
It is certain that garden design deteriorated and fell 
into chaos just as architecture deteriorated and fell 
into chaos, also that the present improvement in 
domestic country architecture has been accompanied 
by an improvement in garden design. The EngHsh 



210 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

love of the country has already delivered us from 
the worst errors of gardening. It may once again 
give us beautiful houses, and perfect gardens to suit 
them. 



THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ROCK GARDEN 

IT is one of the advantages of a well-planned rock 
garden that it provides a great variety of con- 
ditions in a small space. But it requires some knowl- 
edge of the habits of rock plants to profit by this 
variety. Most rock plants, and particularly those 
which grow high up in mountains, are not so adapt- 
able as the plants of the lowlands. Their power of 
adaptation seems to have exhausted itself in suiting 
them to the peculiar conditions of their native homes; 
and, the more peculiar these conditions are, the less 
power they usually have of adapting themselves to 
others. In this they are very like human beings; 
like the Eskimo who pines away from his native ice 
and snow, and the mountaineer who is homesick in 
the plains. Thus, when a rock garden is well placed, 
planned, and built, there yet remains the further 
problem of finding exactly the right positions for the 
plants that are to be grown in it; and the success of 
a rock garden will depend upon the nicety with which 
this is done. It is true that there are many rock plants 
which will thrive fairly well in any open position; 
but even these will usually do better in one place 
than in another; and the gardener's aim should be 
to have all his plants doing their best. 

Now, of all differences of conditions which affect 

211 



212 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

the well-being of rock and mountain plants, the most 
important are those of aspect. Of the more difficult 
Alpine plants, many will thrive on one side of a stone 
and not on the other, because of the difference of 
aspect; and even to rock plants which are not difficult 
aspect usually makes a great difference. It is, un- 
fortunately, impossible to lay down hard and fast 
rules about the aspects most suitable to particular 
plants, because the general conditions of rock gardens 
vary so much. Some are in warmer parts of the coun- 
try than others. Some are fully exposed to the sun, 
others shaded from it to some extent by the lie of the 
ground or by trees or shrubs. Some are in gardens 
with a north aspect, others in gardens with a south. 
Thus a plant that would prefer a full south aspect 
on a rock garden in a cold climate, might do best 
with a south-west, or even north-west, aspect when 
the rock garden was very hot and sunny. There is 
much that the gardener can learn about his own rock 
garden only by experience and observation; and 
whatever general directions are given should be taken 
as referring only to average conditions, and should 
be modified where the conditions are not average. 
But, if a rock garden is well placed and planned and 
built, not too dry and not too damp, and in particular 
not overshadowed by trees, there are certain direc- 
tions about aspect that may be followed without 
much fear. Thus a south-west or south-east aspect 
is usually the best for the more delicate plants of the 
higher Alps, and a full south aspect for those which 



NORTH SIDE OF THE ROCK GARDEN 213 

come from Asia Minor and other hot countries. But, 
as mountains have their northern slopes as well as 
their southern, there are many mountain plants that 
will thrive better on the north side of the rock garden 
than on the south; and, since many gardeners seem 
to have some difficulty with the northern slopes of 
their rock gardens, we propose to give a list of these 
north-loving plants. 

First we will speak of those which, although they 
thrive on a northerly slope, yet require an open situa- 
tion free from any kind of shade or drip. Some of 
them also, although they like a northern aspect be- 
cause it is turned away from the full power of the sun, 
do not like our north and north-easterly winds par- 
ticularly in early spring, when they are just starting 
into growth. There is a great difference between a 
north aspect that is sheltered by a bank to the north 
of it, and one that is quite unsheltered. We shall 
therefore first mention the plants which require shelter, 
or, at any rate, a north-easterly aspect rather than 
one facing north-east or full north; for there are many 
plants that will endure an unsheltered north-westerly 
aspect but require shelter if they are facing full north 
or north-east. Of these, one of the most valuable is 
Lithospermum prostratum, perhaps the most valuable 
of all rock plants. It will do well on the south side, 
but even better on the north when it is sheltered from 
the wind; but it must have light, rich, and deep soil 
free from lime, and should be placed so that its roots 
can run under a large stone. It must also have very 



214 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

good drainage, and not be overshadowed by any other 
plant. It may be interspersed with Arenaria montana 
which thrives in the same position, or with Saxifraga 
pyramidaHs, which, unlike most of the rosette Saxi- 
frages, prefers a soil free from lime. Most of these 
rosette Saxifrages will do well on the north side, espe- 
cially the great Saxifraga longifolia and the little S. 
valdensis, both of which dislike a very hot place; 
but for both of these north-west is better than north- 
east. Many also of the smaller Campanulas like a 
north aspect. Indeed, C. pulla always does best on 
the north side, especially if it is split up and replanted 
in fresh soil every two years or so in the spring. C. 
muralis with its larger variety is an excellent plant 
for a north aspect, and it may be mixed with the 
beautiful Silene alpestris with the best effect. Other 
Campanulas that do well on northern slopes are C. 
turbinata, the dwarf form of C. carpatica, C. Tom- 
masiniana, a most delicate little Harebell, so small 
that it must not be put near any large plant, C. Scheu- 
zeri, C. pumila or caespitosa, and C. garganica with 
its varieties. This lLl<:es a north-west aspect and a 
very open situation; and it may be mixed with the 
little Silene acaulis, a native of the Welsh mountains, 
which is apt to burn up in a very hot sun. Another 
delicate little plant that will do well with a north-west 
aspect is Asperula hirta, a Woodruff with pale pink 
flowers, which roots deeply and spreads fairly rapidly 
in a well-drained place among the rocks. This also 
may be mixed with Campanula garganica, or with 



NORTH SIDE OF THE ROCK GARDEN 215 

its more vigorous variety hirsuta, with excellent ef- 
fect. One of the most valuable plants for covering 
a large space on a northern slope is Polygonum vac- 
cinifolium. It is quite prostrate and flowers in late 
summer and autumn. It grows very quickly, the 
stems rooting in the ground, and no small plants 
should be put near it. It flowers best in a rather poor 
soil and open situation. It should be planted in 
spring and not disturbed afterwards. Space also is 
needed for Dryas octopetala, a lime-loving plant, 
which grows into a large prostrate mass, bearing 
white blossoms rather like those of a strawberry 
throughout the summer. Many of the smaller Drabas 
do well on the north side, especially D. Aizoon, D. 
aizoides, and D. bruniaefolia. Of these D. Aizoon, 
a native plant and easily raised from seed, is the best. 
It grows in little rosettes with a head of yellow flowers 
rising from the centre of them. It is quite easy, but 
does not like a hot sun. The other two are more 
mossy in growth and cover a larger space. Another 
little crucifer with yellow flowers that thrives on the 
north side is Morisia hypogoea. It blossoms very 
early in the spring and should be planted in a deep 
crevice, between rocks. When it has formed several 
crowns it should be divided, and replanted in fresh 
soil just after flowering. It is a plant to associate with 
the smaller Alpine Primulas, most of which like a 
north-west aspect and the same deep crevices. The 
best of all these, perhaps, is Primula pubescens alba 
(or nivalis), a small but vigorous plant with pure 



216 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

white flowers in very early spring. Others well worth 
growing are P. viscosa, P. auricula with its varieties, 
P. auricula marginata and P. marginata, both of 
which like lime; P. calycina, also a lime-lover, P. 
glutinosa, and P. minima. They all like to be closely 
surrounded with rocks, and the soil should be deep, 
light, and fairly rich. Atragene alpina, the Alpine 
Clematis, will do well in a sheltered place on the 
north side, but it must have a good space to grow in. 
It likes a fairly rich soil mixed with humus and lime. 
Near it may be placed Polemonium confertum mel- 
litum, which has sweet-scented white flowers and 
grows about 9 in. high. This plant often dies out 
after a year or two, but it is easily raised from seed 
and is one of the most beautiful flowers of the Rocky 
Mountains. Aquilegia pyrenaica, the smallest of the 
Columbines, also does well on the north side. It is 
a rare plant, growing only a few inches high, and a 
form of A. vulgaris is often sold for it. The true 
plant is well worth growing. 

Where there is an excavated rock garden many 
beautiful plants may be grown upon its lower northern 
slopes. It is in such a position that Ramondia pyre- 
naica does best, placed between rocks so that its roots 
run almost horizontally backwards, and so that the 
sun never strikes upon its leaves. It likes a fibrous 
soil of loam, peat, and leaf-mould, with a good dose 
of lime. It is always finest near to water, but will 
do well without it, provided it gets no sun. Its true 
beauty is only shown when it is flourishing. Plants 



NORTH SIDE OF THE ROCK GARDEN 217 

that may be grown near it are Anemone alpina, a 
lime-loving plant, and its variety sulphurea, which 
dislikes lime, Anemone verna, several Himalayan 
Primulas, such as P. rosea, P. involucrata, and P. 
Sikkimensis, Chamaelirion carolinianum, the smaller 
Dodecatheons, and the Soldanellas. A little above 
these, but where they will never suffer from drought, 
should be placed Saxifraga apiculata, S. sancta, and 
S. oppositifolia, all plants with a mossy habit of growth 
and very beautiful flowers in early spring. Saxifraga 
burseriana, with its varieties and hybrids, likes a 
rather sunnier position and must not suffer from damp 
in the winter; but, as drought in the summer is equally 
fatal to it, it should be given carefully-chosen places 
among rocks with a north-west or west aspect. It is 
worth a great deal of trouble. 

Hitherto we have dealt mainly with the choicer or 
less familiar plants that like a north aspect. There 
are, of course, many common plants that will do well 
on any side of the rock garden; but even of these 
some are better suited to the north than others. The 
plants most commonly grown on the north side are 
the mossy Saxifrages and those of the London Pride 
section. These are so well known that it is unneces- 
sary to enumerate their species and varieties. It may 
be mentioned, however, that the fine S. Wallacei (or 
Camposii) is more impatient of drought and sun than 
most of them. It is therefore suited for the lower 
northern slopes. Saxifraga tenella, which is mossy 
in growth but belongs to another section, does well 



218 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

in the same situation. It is a very pretty plant. Rocks 
on the northern slopes may be clothed with Arenaria 
Balearica, a minute plant, which will cling to them as 
Ampelopsis Veitchii clings to a wall, and which in 
early summer is covered with small white flowers. 
Near it may be grown Linaria hepaticifolia (of Kew), 
a pretty plant, for which a variety of L. cymbalaria 
is often sold. Among easy and vigorous plants par- 
ticularly suited to the north side are Waldstenia tri- 
foliata and W. fragarioides, the Acsenas, particularly 
A. microphylla, Margyricarpus setosus, a pretty 
shrub with white berries, Borago laxiflora (this only 
for large rock gardens), Saponaria ocymoides alba, 
and those smaller flowered Tufted Pansies that are 
called Violettas. These are plants of garden origin, 
but the best of them are very well suited for the north 
side of the rock garden. They should be given rich, 
well-manured soil, and left undisturbed for some 
years, where their roots can thrust deep under a rock. 
Then they will endure a good deal of drought and re- 
main long in flower. When they get straggly they 
should be cut back. Nearly all the hardy Cyclamens 
do well on the north side of the rock garden, and do 
not mind a dry place provided it is not too sunny. 
Among those which flower in the autumn may be 
planted some of the smaller Daffodils, such as Nar- 
cissus minimus, N. triandrus albus, N. cyclamineus, 
and N. nanus. These will flower just when the Cy- 
clamens are at rest, and the plants will not interfere 
with each other. 



NORTH SIDE OF THE ROCK GARDEN 219 

Among plants usually grown on the south side, 
but well fitted for open situations looking north, are 
Aubrietia, which does not flower quite so freely with 
such an aspect, but looks more green and glossy; 
the creeping Phloxes, Veronica prostrata, V. pectinata, 
and V. repens, Dianthus superbus; and in open dry 
situations most of the stronger Pinks; Alyssum saxa- 
tile compactum; many of the larger Sempervivums, 
Thymus serpyllum, Arenaria tetraquetra, Codonopsis 
ovata, Erinus alpinus, Globularia cordifolia, Gypso- 
phila repens, Hutchinsia alpina, Iberis sempervirens 
and its varieties. Papaver alpinum, Linaria alpina, 
Saponaria ocymoides, and Silene Schafta. We have 
now mentioned enough plants to show that there 
can be no difficulty in covering the northern slopes 
even of the largest rock garden, and yet we have said 
nothing of shrubs, many of which will thrive with a 
north aspect, and scarcely anything of bulbs. 



GARDENERS 

THE relation between gardener and employer is 
not an easy one, especially if the employer is a 
gardener himself. There is apt to be a conflict of 
tastes; and the better the gardener the more acute 
that conflict is likely to be. Every good gardener is 
sure to have his own taste in flowers and their arrange- 
ment, and in these days it is not often the taste of his 
employer. The amateur in gardening is a revolu- 
tionary, the professional a conservative. He has 
learnt the mid- Victorian routine when he was a boy; 
and if he has learnt it well it has brought him triumphs 
plain for every one to see. His ribbon borders have 
been the talk of the place, and he has won many 
prizes at the local flower show, the certificates of 
which he nails up in his conservatory. Naturally he 
wishes to persist in his ribbon borders and his prize 
winning. But his employer, if he is a gardener him- 
self, has other ideas which to the professional seem 
merely the result of ignorance. The consequence of 
this conflict in tastes may be some real unhappiness 
to the gardener. He has his duty to his employer, 
of course, and he can only keep his place by doing it. 
But he has also his artistic conscience. This he can- 
not satisfy on herbaceous borders or bulbs in the 
grass or rock gardens. Other gardeners have been 

220 



GARDENERS 221 

accustomed to admire the florid health of his Begonias, 
the contrasting glare of his Geraniums and Lobelias, 
the precision of his carpet bedding, and the enormity 
of his Chrysanthemums. The revolution takes place, 
and instead of these proofs of his skill what has he 
to show his friends? Daffodils in the grass which, 
they know, will grow of themselves. Great lumber- 
ing Larkspurs and Phloxes fit only for cottage gardens, 
not for a gentleman's place; and, worst of all, diminu- 
tive Alpines, which may be troublesome but are cer- 
tainly not worth any trouble. 

His employer takes no pride in his flower-show tri- 
umphs; but rather discourages them, grudging the 
time that is necessary for their achievement. Indeed, 
he takes no pride in anything that is worth doing; 
and has no appreciation of real knowledge and skill. 
He is all for experiment and for growing weeds where 
there ought to be flowers, and flowers where there 
ought to be weeds. In fact, he seems not to know 
the difference between a weed and a flower. Very 
likely he will waste good ground and manure upon 
single roses, and will have no eye for the perfections 
of Frau Karl Druschki. In taste he is a mere an- 
archist. In knowledge he is altogether wanting; at 
least, whatever he knows he has got from silly books 
written by people like himself. Yet he presumes to 
have opinions and, what is worse, to enforce them. 
He ravages the garden and no one can stop him, be- 
cause it is his own according to the law. Even the 
gardener who has been a conservative all his life, in 



222 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

politics as well as gardening, must feel the iniquity 
of this. He must feel that there is a higher law which 
gives him some property in what he has made beauti- 
ful; and the less he reasons about it the more deeply 
he will feel it. 

But to the employer who is an enthusiast for the 
new horticulture these tastes and ideas of his gar- 
dener will seem the result of mere arrogant stupidity. 
He will assume that the gardener wants to grow Gera- 
niums and Calceolarias, because he can grow nothing 
else. It is his business, as a gardener, to produce 
whatever his employer asks for. He has been gar- 
dening all his life, yet he knows nothing about Alpines, 
not even their names, and refuses to take an interest 
in them. "The worst of him is," cries the employer, 
"that he will not learn. He thinks he knows every- 
thing and he knows nothing." And all the while that 
is what the gardener is whispering to himself about 
the employer. It would not matter if the employer 
would attend to his own business, whatever it may 
be, and leave the garden to its proper master. But 
this he will not do. For some unknown reason he 
must try his hand at a business for which he is con- 
stitutionally unfitted. He blunders about the garden, 
botching jobs which he has paid others to do for him 
and demoralizing the under-gardeners with his messy 
habits. It is impossible to see him at work without 
despising him in your heart; and then precious time 
has to be spent in repairing the damage which he 
does. Meanwhile the employer is also watching his 



GARDENERS 223 

gardener at work and despising him in his heart. 
He is the slave of a brainless routine. When there 
are things of real importance to be done, he is clipping 
edges because it is Thursday, or sweeping up leaves 
because it is Saturday. He forgets that it is also 
autumn and that grand new schemes are to be exe- 
cuted for the winter. 

Gardeners have a great power of passive rebellion. 
They take your orders and seem to be carrying them 
out, and yet nothing comes of it. You may have a 
fanatical dislike of bedding plants, and think that 
you have extirpated them, yet all the while there 
are Geraniums and Calceolarias and even Echeverias 
lurking through the winter in some secret frame; and 
in due season they will appear in the garden again, 
and the gardener will say that he had to fill up with 
something. If you are a ruthless man, perhaps you 
will have them pulled up. But you will find that for 
some reason nothing else will grow where the gar- 
dener thinks they ought to be. It is a place ordained 
by nature for bedding plants; year after year they 
will come there unless you turf it up; and if you do 
that they will break out somewhere else. There is 
also a curious difficulty about the planting of bulbs 
in the grass. You tell your gardener that he is to 
arrange them in a natural disorder, you may even 
make a plan for him with dots for the bulbs on a piece 
of paper, and he will seem to listen and observe, and 
will say that he understands. But in the spring the 
bulbs will come up in orderly rows, or, worse still, in 



224 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

geometrical patterns. Perhaps the gardener does not 
listen. Perhaps he thinks you cannot be really so 
foolish as you seem; or, perhaps — and this is the 
most probable explanation — the habits of a lifetime 
are too strong for him, and as he plants he obeys un- 
consciously his instinct for symmetry and order. 

Whatever the explanation may be, these incidents 
make pleasant relations difficult; and, for the en- 
thusiast, unpleasant relations with his gardener are 
intolerable. They must be even worse for the gar- 
dener, since he cannot openly rebel except at the risk 
of losing his livelihood. It is his business, you may 
say, to please his employer; but he is human, and 
the more his heart is in his work the more eager he will 
be to do work after his own heart. Every good gar- 
dener is something of an artist, however perverse his 
taste may seem, and he needs to be humoured like 
an artist. But then his employer too, if he is an en- 
thusiast, is also something of an artist, and probably 
not content with mere humouring. It may be a point 
of honour with him to have no bedding plants in his 
garden. It may be a point of honour with the gar- 
dener to have some. When this is the case the humane 
employer usually makes some concession. He sees 
that if there were no bedding plants his gardener 
would lose all interest in his work and pine away. 
Therefore he gives him a piece of the garden to play 
with and does not grudge the time he spends upon it, 
provided he will do as he is bid elsewhere. This com- 
promise is not perfectly satisfactory to either party. 



GARDENERS 225 

The employer has to explain to his friends that the 
bedding plants are not his taste. The gardener has 
to explain to his friends that only in one little part of 
the garden has he been given a fair chance. Some 
employers, perhaps, will say that they see no reason 
for a compromise at all. The garden is theirs to do 
what they like with. But the gardener, though they 
pay his wages, is not altogether theirs. They can, 
of course, get rid of him, and look for one who will 
do exactly as they like; but they will find it difficult 
to get him. The good gardener always has tastes of 
his own; if he had not he would not be a good gar- 
dener; and his tastes are usually conservative, not 
merely because he has been trained in an old-fash- 
ioned school, but also because all men, except the 
most able, are apt to fall into routine in any difficult 
work that is the main business of their lives. In the 
difficult work of a Government office this tendency 
produces red tape. In the difficult work of the gar- 
dener it produces the bedding-out system; for gar- 
dening is very difficult work, much more difficult 
than the irresponsible amateur is apt to suppose. 
He plays with just the parts of it which amuse him, 
and he finds them easy and delightful. He forgets 
that the gardener has to do many things which are 
not amusing — that he has to mow the lawn and sweep 
the paths; to produce fruit and vegetables as well 
as flowers; and, above all, that he is expected not to 
fail in what he attempts. It is this consciousness 
that he must not fail which makes the professional 



226 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

averse from experiment. It is the consciousness that 
he can fail if he chooses which makes the amateur so 
eager for experiment. We wonder why the presenta- 
tion portraits which we see in the Academy are so 
dull and unad venturous. We should remember that 
the artist who paints portraits for a living has to pro- 
duce good likenesses. If he does not, he is held by his 
customer to have failed. He cannot begin on the 
portrait of an alderman, and then, if the whim seizes 
him, turn it into a picture of light. If he does, the 
alderman will not buy it. So a gardener has to pro- 
duce a certain amount of cabbages in the year and 
a certain amount of flowers; and if he knows one 
sure way of producing them, he sees no reason for 
trying another. Thus there is a cause, much deeper 
than mere perversity of taste, for horticultural routine; 
and many an eager amateur who rails at it would 
soon slip into it if he were in his gardener's place. 
The free play of the intelligence and the consideration 
of first principles are excellent things; but very few 
of us have enough energy to combine them with prac- 
tice, and this is the reason why practice is usually 
so much less clever than criticism. It is the business 
of criticism to be clever. It is the business of prac- 
tice to produce results; and practice will usually take 
the line of least resistance towards that object. 

These are general considerations; but they have a 
very particular application to gardeners, who have 
much more difficult work to do than most men of so 
little general education. It is only genius that can 



GARDENERS 227 

combine efficient practice with a free play of the in- 
telligence and a consideration of first principles; and 
even genius must be educated before it can do this. 
Genius, of course, is as rare among gardeners as among 
other men, and educated genius still rarer. Even the 
most accomplished amateur, if he has the luck to 
catch an intelligent gardener young, if he can teach 
him all that he knows himself and train him in his 
own taste, will yet probably fail to teach him that 
certainty of practice which is required of most gar- 
deners. His pupil may know a good deal about Al- 
pines; he may be able to plant and maintain a beau- 
tiful herbaceous border; but the chances are he will 
be rather disappointing with his spring greens, and 
no good at all at grapes. Men trained in this way 
may be invaluable in very large gardens, where there 
is much division of labour; but they are not so useful 
as the ordinary routine-trained gardener in a place 
where they have to do or supervise everything. Ama- 
teurs often wonder at the certainty of the results pro- 
duced by the great florists. That certainty comes 
from a division of labour impossible in the ordinary 
garden. The man who has only one thing to do learns 
to do it excellently, not only because he is always do- 
ing it, but because he has nothing else to think of. 
The ordinary gardener has a great many different 
things both to do and to think of. He has to plan 
as well as to execute; and it is only natural that he 
should plan according to a routine and should be 
very unwilling to break through it. Thus, it is not 



228 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

sheer vice in the gardener that he likes bedding out, 
but the natural tendency of even conscientious men 
to simplify their tasks. Their minds flinch from the 
insecurity and bewilderment that await them as soon 
as they leave their routine, and the more conscientious 
they are the more they prefer a narrow and obvious 
success to an ambitious failure. 

These reflections are not intended to dishearten 
the enthusiast. Their purpose is that he shall make 
the best of his gardener by first learning to under- 
stand him. When he does that he may teach his 
gardener to understand his own aims and to see that 
they are not merely the results of ignorance. Gar- 
deners are apt to think meanly of all information got 
from books, for they know that books are usually 
written by amateurs. It is no use, therefore, to try 
to impress your gardener with your knowledge, for he 
will assume that you have got it from a book written 
by some one who has never grown a cabbage. The 
only way to convince him that you know something 
is to prove it by results. Then he will respect you, 
even if he disagrees with you. You may, by per- 
suasion and artifice, even induce him to agree with 
you to some extent in time. At any rate, that is the 
object to aim at; otherwise you must be always at 
odds with your gardener, or else always changing him 
until you find a paragon; an event which may never 
happen. 



THE HOUSE AND THE GARDEN 

THERE is a close connexion between the art of 
gardening and the art of house-building, and 
that connexion persists even when deliberate efforts 
are made to break it. Beautiful houses made the 
beautiful formal gardens of the seventeenth and earlier 
centuries. Ugly houses made the landscape gardens 
of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is char- 
acteristic of the Englishman that, when he despaired 
of making his house beautiful he should not have 
despaired of making his garden beautiful; or, rather, 
that when he was content with an ugly house, and per- 
suaded that in some way its ugliness was appropriate 
to his own wants and expressive of his own ideas, 
he should not have been content with the same kind 
of ugliness in his garden. About the house he was 
ready to believe what architects told him; but he 
would no longer trust them with his garden, and thus 
there came into being the landscape garden designer, 
whose aim it was to make his client forget the existence 
of his house the moment he walked into his garden. 
Here, of course, there was a divorce between the art 
of gardening and the art of house-building; but it 
came about because the art of house-building ceased 
to express any of the true feelings or better qualities 

of the householder, because it misrepresented him to 

229 



230 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

himself, and because he was not content to be so mis- 
represented by his garden. The natural tendency of 
men who are pleased with their houses is to plan their 
gardens to suit them. Thus in other countries ugly 
formal gardens came with ugly houses; and even in 
England the man who likes a suburban villa will sur- 
round it with a villa garden. If he prefers the pre- 
tence of a villa to the reality of a cottage, he will prefer 
an iron railing. Calceolarias, and Geraniums to a yew 
hedge and a border of Larkspurs and Roses and Lilies. 
But in England there are few who really like sub- 
urban villas, and even the artificial taste for them is 
found chiefly among those whose education has been 
carried only so far as to make them distrust all their 
natural tastes. A very little more education gives 
an Englishman confidence in his natural taste for 
countrified houses, and gardens to suit them. 

But in the eighteenth century, for reasons which 
we still find it difficult to imderstand, the English 
mind reacted in most things against its natural tastes 
and instincts. In other ages we have excelled more 
in poetry than in prose, but then our prose was better 
than our poetry. We are a country rather than a 
town people by nature; but then we aimed at a town 
rather than a country civilization, and built town 
houses in the country, whereas at other times we 
have tended rather to build country houses in the 
town. But all through the eighteenth century the 
English mind was uneasy under the ideals which it 
had imposed upon itself, and it was always revolting 



THE HOUSE AND THE GARDEN 231 

in different directions against those ideals. Most of 
these revolts, before the great revolt of the romantic 
movement came, took the form of some kind of make- 
believe. Landscape gardening was one of those re- 
volts, and pastoral poetry was another. But, whereas 
pastoral poetry was almost killed by the revival of 
the real poetry of nature, landscape gardening per- 
sisted, because the continual decline of the art of 
house-building made a revival of the true art of gar- 
den design impossible. You cannot design a beautiful 
garden to suit an ugly house; and therefore, since 
houses grew uglier and uglier, few efforts were made 
to design gardens to suit them. Thus gardens did 
not advance beyond the pastoral poetry stage of re- 
volt against ugliness and dulness. They expressed 
no beautiful realities in human life, but only a dis- 
like of ugly realities. So far they were a sign of grace; 
but it was a negative and impotent kind of grace. 
Men, despairing of expressing in these gardens their 
own minds in terms of beauty, requested nature to 
express herself, and did all they could to get out of 
her way. Mr. Mawson, in his book on "The Art and 
Craft of Garden Making," calls this helpless fall- 
ing back upon nature realism; but in seeking to con- 
demn it with a word he does it too much honour. It 
is a kind of realism that will not face realities, the 
realism of conscientious make-believe. The reality 
was this, that men could no longer build houses in 
which they could take any rational kind of pleasure, 
or which expressed any pleasant facts about their 



232 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

lives. They were content with such houses as they 
could build, but not with gardens to suit them. Now, 
instead of seeing that the true remedy was to build 
better houses, they called upon nature to help them 
to forget their own ugliness. But, in matters of art, 
as in other things, nature helps those who help them- 
selves. Landscape gardening has had its successes, 
where there is space enough to make a landscape. It 
has brought nothing but chaotic ugliness into those 
gardens which are so small that they must be all fore- 
ground, and must bear signs, open or disguised, of 
the occupation of man. But now we are once again 
beginning to build houses in which we can take a ra- 
tional pleasure, and which do express some pleasant 
facts about our lives; and it is significant that with 
these houses the taste for formal gardens is reviving. 
But in these days every revival of art is imme- 
diately endangered by fashion. Fashion is essentially 
brainless; it understands nothing about principles, but 
seizes upon some external feature of a reviving art, 
reduces it to an absurdity by blind exaggeration, and 
so quickly gives us a disgust of the art itself. The re- 
vival of formal gardening, like the revival of house- 
building, is in some danger from this cause. The 
best houses that are built now must be a little con- 
scious of their goodness. There are so many things 
which an architect must learn to avoid that even 
when he manages to avoid them he still leaves us 
aware of their absence. In the same way a good 
modern formal garden, planned to suit a good modern 



THE HOUSE AND THE GARDEN 233 

house, often seems conscious of its formality, and to 
be a protest against the idea of landscape gardens. 
This kind of self-consciousness, an inevitable though 
undesirable characteristic of a reviving art, is sure to 
be seized upon and exaggerated by fashion. The more 
enterprising suburban builder suddenly discovers that 
straight paths and rows of Thuyas are the thing; and, 
since they are as cheap as winding walks and shrub- 
beries, he provides them, just as he provides houses 
with a fashionable air of austerity about their porches 
and chimneys. But this fashionable formality is no 
more satisfying than the fashionable austerity; and 
people whose taste is made by fashion will soon tire 
of both. There could be no more signal proof of the 
close connexion between garden design and house- 
building than the fact that a sham art in house-build- 
ing has immediately produced a sham art in garden 
design to go with it. The essence of good house- 
building is that the facts about the house shall be 
pleasantly expressed. It must make no pretensions 
to be anything more than it is, and it must also make 
the best of what it is, like a well-mannered man. In 
the same way the essence of good garden design is 
to make a piece of ground both pleasant and useful 
without attempting to conceal its nature, its limits, 
or its uses. The worst excesses of landscape gar- 
dening have come about from a desire to make gar- 
dens seem larger than they are; and landscape gar- 
deners, in the vain attempt to imitate nature, have 
too often forgotten that gardens are ever used for any 



234 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

purpose by human beings, or else they have assumed 
that nothing useful can be beautiful, and have ig- 
nored use in their pursuit of beauty. 

The proper problem of garden design, as of house- 
building, is to make the useful beautiful; but it is 
easier in garden design, because the uses of a garden 
are all pleasant. Pleasure is its purpose; and so its 
very ornaments, the flowers, are objects of utility in 
it. But we shall not learn how to arrange them or 
any of the other things proper to a garden until we 
regard them all as objects of utility meant for the 
enjoyment of human beings, and not as means of 
making the garden look like something other than 
what it was. Trees should be in a garden to give 
shade, hedges to provide shelter or to serve as boun- 
daries, paths to provide a dry passage from one place 
to another; lawns for many purposes — for games, 
or to sit on, or to serve as a foil to flowers; and flower- 
ing plants for ornament. If once a garden is thus 
conceived, so to speak, in terms of utility, just as a 
house is conceived by a good architect, a design formal 
in the best sense of the word seems to follow as a 
matter of course. But, just as there is all the differ- 
ence in the world between formality in architecture 
that is based upon utility and formality that is the 
result of a desire to be formal, so it is with formality 
in gardens. The one is living, the other is dead; the 
one rational, the other irrational. A straight avenue 
of pollarded limes is an instance of rational formality. 
It is intended for a shady walk; and it is straight be- 



THE HOUSE AND THE GARDEN 235 

cause limes so arranged give the most continuous shade 
and because straight walks are the most direct. An 
avenue of Thuyas is an instance of irrational formality. 
They serve no useful purpose. They are mere orna- 
ments, as tiresome in their meaningless repetition as 
the obelisks of a pompous Baroque building. The 
motive is always the test of formality in garden de- 
sign as in architecture, and of informality as well as 
of formality; and in both cases irrational or vulgar 
motives betray themselves at once to the expert, and 
produce some vague discomfort even in the inexpert. 
There should be a reason, and a good one, for every 
feature in a garden as for every feature in a house — 
meaningless irregularities are as offensive in the one 
as in the other; and so are meaningless formalities. 
Reasons, of course, must depend upon the designer's 
purpose; and some purposes make more for beauty 
in gardens than others. We may rule out all pur- 
poses of mere ostentation, which are as sure to pro- 
duce ugliness in the garden as in the house. We may 
also rule out the purpose of imitating nature, as being, 
except on the outskirts of very large gardens, both 
misguided and impracticable. There is also the purely 
horticultural purpose, very common now, which may 
produce much beauty of detail, but will not produce 
a beautiful design. Lastly, there is the purpose of 
making the garden a pleasant habitation in hours of 
ease and fair weather, just as there is the purpose of 
making the house a pleasant habitation at all times. 
Only with this purpose can a garden be made con- 



236 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

sistently beautiful both in design and in ornament, 
with a beauty that seems to ennoble the pleasures 
that it serves. There is something in the order and 
quiet of a beautiful formal garden, in its perfect recon- 
cilement of nature and man, which gives one a greater 
love of life, and this is just the same feeling that one 
gets from the enjoyment of a beautiful house. Both 
seem to prove that man is not a mere defacer of the 
world, that if he chooses he can add beauty to it, even 
in fulfilling his own wants, like the flowers themselves. 
The best art is nearer to nature than any attempt 
to imitate her, because it comes into being, like her 
beauties, for some purpose outside itself. 



THE RIGHT USE OF FLOWERING SHRUBS 

IT is often said that flowering shrubs are too little 
used in our gardens; and, indeed, considering 
their number and beauty, we may wonder that more 
is not made of them. Yet there is some reason for 
their neglect, for of all the ornaments of the garden 
they are the most difficult to place rightly. We are 
uncertain whether to treat them as shrubs or as flowers. 
Many of them cannot be used, like other shrubs, as 
a foil or background to flowers, since they have too 
strong an interest of their own when they are in flower; 
and when they go out of flower they often lack the 
neatness and flourishing air of other shrubs. They 
have made their great display, beautiful while it lasts 
but often short-lived, and when it is over they have 
a spent look like herbaceous plants after their flower- 
ing time. On the other hand, it is difficult to treat 
most of them as flowering plants and to place them 
among other flowering plants in the border, because 
of their size and because their roots rob the ground 
of nourishment and moisture which the other plants 
need. In a large garden, of course, they may be placed 
by themselves in great shrubberies; but these are 
seldom satisfactory, especially when they consist of 
many kinds of shrubs. It is far more difficult to make 

a pleasant arrangement of different flowering shrubs 

237 



238 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

than of different herbaceous plants. The units of 
the arrangement are so large that any intricate inter- 
weaving of colour is almost impossible; besides, shrubs 
cannot be put close together like smaller plants with- 
out suffering from overcrowding. Most of the plants 
of the border can be divided when they grow too 
thick and the soil may then be redug and enriched. 
But shrubs, to flourish, must be left alone. You can- 
not be always experimenting with new combinations 
or removing the smaller shrubs when they are over- 
shadowed. Your planting must be made once and 
for all; and without the power of frequent experiment 
how are you to get the experience necessary for skil- 
ful arrangement? You cannot even be sure of profit- 
ing by the experience of others, unless their condi- 
tions are exactly the same as yours; for some shrubs 
grow apace in one kind of soil and others in another; 
and a combination that succeeds in a rich loam may 
be a failure in a light gravel. Nothing looks so miser- 
able in a garden as a flowering shrub that does not 
thrive. It is so large a monument of failure that it 
may poison all the gardener's pleasure in his garden, 
and one sickly shrub will mar the effect of a whole 
shrubbery. 

Then again, the very number and diversity of 
flowering shrubs are apt to intimidate the gardener. 
There are so many that he would like to have, even 
among those quite familiar to him, that he does not 
know where to begin, especially if his garden is not 
very large. And flowering shrubs have such different 



RIGHT USE OF FLOWERING SHRUBS 239 

associations. An Apple tree seems to belong to a 
different world from a Rhododendron, and a Mag- 
nolia from a Hawthorn. Associations may be quite 
arbitrary and may change from time to time; but 
you can no more ignore them in the use of shrubs 
than in the use of words. There are some shrubs that 
always have an exotic look, and need to be used as 
discreetly as foreign words or phrases. You cannot 
plant them without incongruity among those shrubs 
that seem to belong to the immemorial past of our 
gardens. Some day, perhaps, the hardy Azaleas will 
look as homely as a Damask Rose; but at present they 
still seem to belong to the Far East, so closely are 
they associated in our minds with Japanese drawings 
and decoration; and it is not easy to find plants that 
will combine well with them. 

We have said enough to show that the problem of 
flowering shrubs — a problem at once horticultural 
and aesthetic — is peculiarly difficult; and it is better 
not to use them at all than to use them badly, especially 
in the formal garden. It must be confessed that 
formal gardens, so far as flowering shrubs are con- 
cerned, are at a disadvantage compared with wild 
or even with ordinary landscape gardens. The best 
tradition of formal gardening was developed when 
there were but few flowering shrubs, and it afforded 
few opportunities for the use of them. It was timid 
even in the use of Roses, the chief of all flowering 
shrubs; and now that there are so many Roses that 
can be treated as true flowering shrubs and not as 



240 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

mere blossom-producing machines, we are not likely 
to be content with any timid use of them. Nor can 
we content ourselves with a timid use of all those 
earlier flowering shrubs and trees which make the 
glory of late spring in large gardens, and in garden 
cities like Oxford with Hawthorn pink and white, and 
Laburnum, and Lilac and the Guelder rose, and all 
the Cherries, and Apples, and Plums. We cannot 
forgo the rapture and abundance of these any more 
than we can forgo the innumerable twinkling of Cro- 
cuses and Squills and Daffodils in the grass. But the 
question remains, how are we to have them without 
injuring the other beauties of our gardens; and that 
question is not easy to answer. Where the garden 
is very large the problem is easiest. There, flowering 
shrubs may be planted in broad masses and com- 
binations on the wilder outskirts, and more sparsely 
and carefully nearer to the house. An occasional 
flowering shrub may be placed with artful irregularity 
even in the most formal parts of a garden. Nothing 
looks better than a single Hawthorn or Laburnum 
placed, as if by accident, in the corner of a cloister, 
and it may be used in the same way in a garden close. 
But there must be no regularity in the planting of 
such things, or it will distract the eye from the reg- 
ularity of the main design. To plant a Hawthorn 
in each corner of a cloister or a garden close would 
be a fatal absurdity. What is needed is a contrast 
between the general order and symmetry and a single 
beautiful accident, for there should be some one ap- 



RIGHT USE OF FLOWERING SHRUBS 241 

parently accidental beauty in every garden design, 
however formal, as in every picture, however sys- 
tematically composed. Without it there seems to 
be no inspiration and no spontaneity, nothing but 
a timid anxiety for correctness. And here, perhaps, 
we may have arrived at a principle for the use of the 
larger and nobler flowering trees and shrubs, at any 
rate in more formal and confined gardens. They 
should be employed not systematically, like flowers 
or shrubs of utility, but as accidents and surprises, 
to enliven the formality of the whole. Needless to 
say, they must be so employed with great restraint. 
Accidents and surprises, if too often repeated, lose 
their effect. But the difficulty in every design is to 
combine restraint with abundance, to know where 
to be lavish and where to be sparing. Flowering 
shrubs are most beautiful objects, at any rate, when 
in flower, and some gardeners, therefore, are tempted 
to plant them in abundance; but the better course 
seems to be, at least in small or formal gardens, to 
use them sparingly in combination with an abundance 
of herbaceous and other flowering plants. There 
must be a sacrifice somewhere, especially nowadays, 
when we have such an infinite variety of all kinds of 
ornamental plants; and the sacrifice should be made 
on some principle. Now, there is a principle in the 
sparing use of flowering shrubs, because they are, as 
we have said, too large for units in any ordered com- 
bination, except in a very large garden. Therefore, 
they should be used as accidents. 



242 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

We are all familiar with the accidental use of "orna- 
mental conifers" in landscape gardens, and most of 
us are tired of it. It is usually unhappy, because 
these conifers are too formal and not interesting or 
beautiful enough in themselves for such a use, and 
also because single accidents are superfluous where 
everything is intended to look accidental. An accident 
in a design should be striking and beautiful in itself, 
and should be used to correct and contrast with the 
general formality of that design. Therefore, shrubs 
or trees brilliant in their flowers and informal in their 
growth should be employed for that purpose. They 
should contrast in every respect with the more formal 
elements of the design that will serve as a foil to them. 
Thus evergreen flowering shrubs, such as Berberis 
Darwinii or B. stenophylla, should not be placed 
against an evergreen background such as a yew hedge. 
That should serve as a foil rather to some deciduous 
tree with leafage of an utterly different colour. Noth- 
ing is more beautiful in a garden than contrasts of 
foliage, where they occur once and as if by accident. 
Nothing is more restless and wearisome than such 
contrasts where they are incessant and too varied. 
Thus a mixed shrubbery, even if it is altogether com- 
posed of beautiful flowering shrubs, is seldom beauti- 
ful as a whole. The items seem to jostle each other 
and to compete for your attention, like advertise- 
ments on a hoarding or pictures at an exhibition, 
and they compete most violently when they are in 
flower together and in their fullest beauty. But a 



RIGHT USE OF FLOWERING SHRUBS 243 

single flowering shrub rightly placed in front of a 
dark barrier of greenery has your eye to itself and 
satisfies it, like an altarpiece in a quiet church. Nor 
does it compete with any border of flowers near it, 
for their beauty is on a different scale and of a dif- 
ferent order. But in a large garden formally designed 
there may be a greater abundance of flowering shrubs 
than is possible with this accidental use of them, if 
only they are arranged in an orderly fashion and 
without too great variety. The best Rose gardens 
give us hints for the treatment of other flowering 
shrubs by which we have not yet profited much. 
There is no reason why we should not have shrubberies 
arranged like roseries, not in a thicket all struggling 
together for life and notice, but widely spaced at 
regular intervals and with regular repetitions and 
alternations. In such a shrubbery only a few kinds 
should be planted. Harmony and simplicity, rather 
than variety, should be aimed at, and the different 
shrubs should be chosen so as to agree or contrast 
well together in the colour and character of their 
foliage and in their habit of growth, and also to pro- 
vide a succession of bloom. Lower growing shrubs 
might be placed between the taller ones, just as dwarf 
Roses fill up the spaces in a rosery between the oc- 
casional great Pillar Roses. Thus a shrubbery with 
pink Hawthorn and the tallest Philadelphus (Syringa) 
alternating at regular intervals might be filled up 
with masses of Lavender and Cytisus prsecox. But 
the possible combinations of such a shrubbery are 



244 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

innumerable, and we only mention this one as an 
example. When the taller shrubs are straight and 
aspiring in their growth, those in between should be 
of a more spreading and bushy habit; and these 
smaller shrubs should be planted as close together 
and be encouraged to grow as evenly as possible. 
The ground must be well covered at all costs, and all 
the shrubs must thrive, or else the effect will be more 
ragged even than in the ordinary mixed shrubbery. 
There is no reason why some of the tall Pillar Roses 
should not have their place in such an arrangement, 
alternating with Lilacs or some of the taller Spiraeas. 
Nothing can look better than pillars of Dorothy Per- 
kins encircled with Lavender or some other low-grow- 
ing glaucous-leaved shrub. Where there are spaces 
between the smaller shrubs they may be filled with 
masses of German Irises or Pinks or any other plant 
that keeps some of its beauty all the year. But in 
any case the shrubs, whether massed or single, should 
be regular in their arrangement and but little varied 
in kind. 

The use of shrubs about a lawn is a very difficult 
problem, especially in landscape gardens where there 
is no formal or quiet background to serve as a foil for 
them. Shrubs seldom look well when they are planted 
at regular intervals about a lawn, especially if they 
are at all stiff or formal in habit. On the other hand, 
single shrubs dotted here and there are apt to seem 
pointless and forlorn; and so are beds of low-growing 
shrubs such as Rhododendrons or Azaleas. These 



RIGHT USE OF FLOWERING SHRUBS 245 

need a background of quiet greenery and some place 
that seems to be made for them, not cut out arbitrarily 
from a great expanse of grass. They should, therefore, 
always be on the outskirts of a lawn and in some bay 
encircled with taller shrubs or trees. Then they may 
have a splendid effect when in flower. Of the larger 
shrubs the best for the la^vn are those which become 
small trees in time, such as Hawthorns, Judas trees, 
and Apples. It is strange that Apple trees should so 
seldom be planted anywhere except in the kitchen gar- 
den. Apart from their use, they are, perhaps, the 
most beautiful of all flowering shrubs, and peculiarly 
suitable by reason of their spreading growth, for 
planting on the outskirts of a lawn. Where a lawn 
is very large it would be well to have an irregularly 
arranged orchard or grove of Hawthorns at the end 
of it; and even where it is smaller a few Apple trees 
or Hawthorns planted together would in time make 
a pleasant shade, and serve as an agreeable transition 
to some other part of the garden. But, as we have 
said, the problem of flowering shrubs is a very dif- 
ficult one; and we do not now pretend to do more 
than explain the nature of its difl3culties and offer a 
few suggestions for dealing with them. 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 



A LARGE book full of poetry and curious learn- 
ing might be written about the associations of 
flowers; and there are few of us, at least among those 
who care much for flowers, who can think of them 
apart from their associations. In this respect, as we 
remarked lately, they are like words. Some are de- 
graded by their associations and others exalted. Some 
are connected with history and the poetry of the past, 
others only with bad fashions and foolish pretensions 
of the present. Compare, for instance, the associa- 
tions of Iris florentina, the true Flower de luce, with 
those of the ordinary yellow Calceolaria. The Iris 
is certainly more beautiful than the Calceolaria. 
But it is also the Lily of France. It has been embroi- 
dered upon banners, and painted upon coats of arms. 
It has led men into many victories, and now it is the 
symbol of a lost cause. But the poor Calceolaria is 
merely the symbol of a discredited fashion in gar- 
dening. We can scarcely see it without thinking of 
its complementary yet discordant associates. Gera- 
niums and Lobelias, just as we cannot see the words 
transpire or phenomenal, even when they are rightly 
used, without thinking of the manner in which they 

have been misused by bad writers. The associations 

246 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 247 

of some words make them impossible for poetry, and 
the associations of some flowers are apt to exclude 
them from the borders of imaginative gardeners. 

No doubt it is easy to be too fastidious about as- 
sociations. A language becomes impoverished when 
its writers will run no risks in their use of words, when 
they are more careful not to offend a pampered taste 
than to express their meaning at all costs; and so 
a gardener may think too much of the associations 
of his flowers and be concerned rather with the past 
than with the future. For after all flowers, like words, 
when they have been degraded by a bad use, may 
be ennobled by a good one. The little blue Lobelia 
does not deserve to be banished from our gardens 
because it has been so often discordantly combined 
with Calceolarias and Geraniums. It is not the native 
of a ribbon border, and, no doubt, if we had only 
seen it growing wild in South Africa we should recog- 
nize its beauty. In this respect flowers have an ad- 
vantage over words. They are not made by men to 
begin with, and, therefore, cannot, like some words, 
be condemned to ugliness and base uses from the 
first. Some of them are so capable of transformation 
that, in their garden forms, they may become posi- 
tively ugly; but few, if any, are positively ugly by 
nature. It is only misuse, and the associations of 
misuse, that make them seem ugly to those who have 
never seen them rightly used. 

There are some plants, especially those of the des- 
ert, that can scarcely be rightly used in our gardens. 



248 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

But these we can do without. There are others that 
a gardener may take a pride in deHvering from the 
associations of misuse and in treating so skilfully 
that their beauty will surprise those who have only 
seen them maltreated. Plants that deserve such 
deliverance and to get associations more worthy of 
their beauty are, besides Lobelias, the garden Hya- 
cinths, the early Tulips, Echeverias, and other plants 
associated with carpet bedding, and even Geraniums 
and Calceolarias. But we have said enough about 
the unpleasant associations of flowers. They nearly 
all come from misuse, and will quickly disappear 
when misuse ceases. 

Yet there are some plants that have associations, 
evil and sinister rather than merely unpleasant, plants 
that belong to the romance of malign enchantment 
and about which legends have gathered that we can- 
not forget when we look at them. The chief of these 
in England is the Deadly Nightshade, Atropa bella- 
donna, which has every sinister quality. It is rare 
and looks as poisonous as it is, and it grows usually 
about old ruins and deserted houses. Its names, 
both English and Latin, prove how much it has im- 
pressed the imagination of men. It is the viper among 
plants, and one might expect a viper to lie in ambush 
in its shadow. Indeed it is often associated with ser- 
pents in allegorical pictures. Other plants of the 
same family are scarcely less sinister. The Henbane, 
for instance, is apt, like the Deadly Nightshade, to 
grow about ruins and deserted houses; and, though 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 249 

it has a curious beauty of its own, it looks scarcely 
less sinister than the Nightshade, with its coarse 
hairy leaves and dingy purple netted flowers. It 
also has an evil smell. It is strange that these plants 
should have habits so consistent with their appear- 
ance. A rationalist might say that we have come to 
think they look sinister because of the places where 
we usually find them. But they would look sinister 
in a spring meadow or a cottage garden. And there 
is no doubt that, like Nettles, they have a curious 
affection for places once occupied and now deserted 
by man. They are parasites that come with ruin 
and neglect. They seem to thrive best either where 
man no longer thrives or where he has never been; 
and, perhaps, when the famous New Zealander con- 
templates the ruins of St. Paul's he will find the streets 
of London overgrown, not with grass, but with Hen- 
bane and Deadly Nightshade. 

A still more famous relation of Henbane, the Man- 
drake or Mandragora, is now much less familiar to 
us. In Mr. Robinson's "English Flower Garden" it 
is dismissed as "suitable mainly for botanical collec- 
tions." But Parkinson treated it with the respect 
due to a plant renowned in literature and legend. 
He speaks of the heady or strong stuffing smell of its 
apples, and says that he has often transplanted Man- 
drakes, "but never found harm by so doing, as many 
idle tales have been set down in writing, and delivered 
also by report, of much danger to happen to such as 
should dig them up or break them." And he adds. 



250 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

"Neither have I ever seen any form of man-like or 
woman-like parts in the roots of any. . . . But 
many cunning counterfeit roots have been shaped 
to such forms and publicly exposed to the view of 
all that would see them." He does not even men- 
tion the fable that the Mandrake shrieks when pulled 
up by the roots. Its fame still survives in literature 
from the Book of Genesis to Othello and that strange 
poem of Donne's that begins: — 

Go and catch a falling star, 
Get with child a mandrake root. 

But its fame has almost outlived the plant itself, so 
far as our gardens are concerned, and many gardeners 
would not recognize it if they saw it. It has so little 
beauty that now, when it is no longer used as a medi- 
cine, it could only be grown as a curiosity. 

The pleasant associations of flowers are of several 
dijfferent kinds, and have much effect upon their treat- 
ment in gardens. Thus we naturally associate the 
most beautiful of our native wildflowers with wild 
places. There is no reason in the nature of things 
why Primroses and the English Daffodil and Blue- 
bells should not be grown in the border; yet their 
beauty seems to us to be lessened by putting them 
there because we think of them as a part of the beauty 
of the woods or meadows. The Daffodil, even in its 
most elaborate garden forms, is still for us a meadow 
flower because of its likeness to the Wild Daffodil. 
But the Pheasant-eye Narcissus is not, because, al- 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 251 

though meadows are full of it in Switzerland, we have 
no form of it that grows wild in our fields. 

There are many plants that have not been de- 
veloped by the florists which we think of only as gar- 
den plants because we have never seen them growing 
wild. We could scarcely imagine, for instance, a 
wild Madonna Lily. The very name, which, by- 
the-by, is quite modern, associates it not only with 
man, but with the art of man. It appears in many 
famous pictures of the Virgin, from the Annunciation 
of Fra Angelico to that of Rossetti. But nowhere 
perhaps is it so beautifully used as in Lippo Lippi's 
Coronation, where the white flowers shine above the 
attendant angels against the blue background. 

These Lilies are just the same as those which grow 
in our gardens now; but few of our modern Roses 
are much like those which are blown by Zephyrus 
upon Botticelli's new risen Venus. They are small 
and rather prim in the arrangement of their petals. 
They have no thorns, and if Botticelli painted them 
from a particular model it may have been from the 
thornless Rose described by Parkinson. But to judge 
by most old pictures of Roses primness was once con- 
sidered a virtue in them as in Dahlias and Columbines. 
Perhaps now we have gone too far the other way. 
At any rate, our modern Roses have utterly out- 
grown all the old artistic associations of the flower; 
and the Tudor Rose does not seem to belong to our 
gardens like the Fleur-de-lys. The new Roses, whether 
hybrid perpetuals or teas or ramblers, have yet to 



25^ STUDIES IN GARDENING 

make their artistic associations almost as much as 
Orchids or any novel species of Primula or Poppy 
just imported from the East. True, they have been 
painted by Fantin Latour and other skilful artists; 
but a flower is not thoroughly at home in art until 
it has been conventionalized for decoration, until 
we have in our houses, not mere representations of 
it in a frame, but the flower itself tamed without loss 
of character into a beautiful pattern.^ Then, indeed, it 
becomes a part of our lives, as wild flowers are a part 
of the life of the earth. But it must be very familiar 
to us and very much beloved before it can be so tamed. 
A designer cannot take any flower he chooses and 
make a pattern of it, or at least one that will please 
us for long. Such patterns must grow and be per- 
fected under the hands of many different designers; 
and the flowers of which they are composed must 
be chosen by the consent of the world, like the flowers 
familiar in poetry or legend or the figurative speech 
of men. Indeed, we may compare the decorative 
use of flowers with those felicitous names which they 
only get when they have been familiar and beloved 
for centuries, and which we find it impossible to ^x 
upon even the most beautiful of new flowers; and 
just as the very abundance of new flowers makes it 
more diflScult for us now to find good English names 
for them, so it makes it more diflScult for us to employ 



^ Remarkable illustrations of the last phrase of this foregoing sentence are 
found in Foord's "Decorative Flower Studies," Batsford, London, 1901. 
L. Y. K. 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 253 

them in decoration. There are so many competitors 
for our affections that we are bewildered among them; 
and before any associations have gathered about one 
novelty we are distracted to another. We have no 
right to complain of our riches, and no doubt in time 
the novelties will be exhausted, and only the best of 
them will be kept. Then they will begin to gather 
associations about them and to get beautiful names, 
and to pass into decoration and poetry and legend. 
But at present it would be almost as difficult to make 
a good pattern out of Incarvillea Delavayi, beautiful 
as it is, as to introduce its name into poetry. The 
flower, like the name, has no associations for us yet; 
we admire, but do not love it. It must grow in our 
gardens for a long while before its image can grow in 
our minds; and decoration is made of mental images 
rather than of imitations of particular objects. In 
the same way the felicitous names of flowers express 
ideas of flowers that have grown up in men's minds 
slowly and with long association. No doubt they are 
often invented in a happy flash of fancy; sometimes 
they are expressive corruptions of an inexpressive 
original; but in any case they are not accepted un- 
less they express the common idea of a flower. And 
that idea is made, not only by the peculiar character 
of its beauty, but by all the associations and the 
romance that have gathered about it, not only by 
its own life, but by its connexion with the life of men. 
We cannot tell why this connexion should be estab- 
lished more in the case of some flowers than of others 



254 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

that seem to be equally beautiful and are equally 
familiar, or why some flowers that have had felicitous 
names in the past have lost them now. We can only 
note that it is so; and, having made these general 
remarks, we propose to treat the subject in more de- 
tail in another article. 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 

n 

Although we, as a nation, have a strong love of 
flowers, yet they do not mean as much to us as they 
mean to the Japanese, or, at any rate, we do not man- 
age to express our love for them as systematically or 
as clearly as the Japanese. It is, of course, a defect 
of our modern life that we do not manage to express 
anything very systematically or clearly. Indeed, we 
rather take a pride in being inarticulate; and not 
only in ordinary speech but in all our manners and 
actions we conceal our deeper feelings, whereas the 
Japanese, for all their Oriental composure and sup- 
pression of transitory and individual emotions, have 
elaborated a ritual for the expression of emotions and 
tastes that are national and persistent. Flowers for 
them are not merely toys or ornaments. It is impos- 
sible, probably, for any European to understand all 
that flowers mean to them and how far they love 
them for their own sake or how far as symbols, chosen 
by reason of their beauty, of certain qualities which 
they cultivate as carefully as the flowers themselves. 
Flowers, such as the Cherry blossom, the Iris, the 
Pseony, and the Chrysanthemum, have for them as- 
sociations so ancient and so strong that in the in- 

255 



256 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

dividual blossom they must always see the type, with 
all that it implies to them, not merely of beauty, but 
of virtues which seem to them beautiful, and which 
they try to produce as naturally and inevitably as a 
plant bears its flowers. Even if we know nothing of 
their life and language, we can tell from their art how 
intimately flowers must be connected with their lives; 
for in that art flowers are almost as prominent as the 
human form in the art of the Greeks. And just as, 
in Greek art, the human form is simplified into types 
without loss of character, so in Japanese art flowers 
are simplified into types without loss, indeed rather 
with emphasis, of character. This kind of simplifica- 
tion cannot be achieved without a great knowledge 
and love of the object simplified. Nor can it be achieved 
by an individual, but only by a succession of artists 
working for a public very familiar with the subject 
matter of their art. It means that artists and public 
alike have mental images of their subject matter com- 
posed of all those qualities in it which have most 
significance for them and continually strengthened 
and enriched by a disinterested study of nature. 

One has only to compare the illustrations in an 
English and Japanese flower catalogue to see how 
strong are the Japanese mental images of flowers, 
and how weak are the English. The English illus- 
trations, whether from drawings or from photographs, 
are representations of individual flowers and nothing 
more. The Japanese, though they have just as much 
individuality and far more character, insist upon the 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 257 

flowers' typical beauty. One can see that even to 
the humble artist of the catalogue these flowers are 
familiar, not as mere objects of commerce, but as 
elements of his own life, and that in painting them 
he has been concerned, not merely with the indif- 
ferent representation of facts, but with the expression 
of feelings common to his race. Thus even he, work- 
ing with a professedly commercial object, has com- 
mand of a tradition which is altogether wanting to 
the best European flower painters, and which was 
wanting also to the Dutch flower painters of the seven- 
teenth century. They, with all their skill, painted 
like florists and for a nation of florists. One can see 
that they belonged to a people who thought of flowers 
rather as ornaments for the house than as having an 
independent life of their own. In their pictures the 
flowers are always composed into elaborate nosegays, 
autumn, summer, and spring flowers all mixed to- 
gether. They communicate to us no sense of their 
growth. They are interested only in the individual 
blossom, not in the plant; and their favourite dewdrop 
is intended rather as a touch of realism and a proof 
of skill than as a suggestion that the flowers have 
ever grown out of doors. But the Japanese flower 
painters, even the catalogue artists, treat flowers like 
landscape painters rather than like florists. They 
may show us only a few blossoms, but they seem to 
be growing in the open air. They always insist as 
much on the character and growth of the whole plant 
as on the beauty of individual flowers; and it is plain 



258 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

that they have studied the plant as it grew, and not 
merely its flowers picked and arranged in a nosegay. 

The Japanese are great gardeners, but they have 
never become florists, partly perhaps because most of 
their flowers are indigenous, and they are used to see 
the types of even their most elaborate garden flowers 
growing wild; but chiefly because the very life of 
flowers is sacred and significant to them almost as 
human life is to us. No doubt these two reasons are 
connected with each other. For we are much more 
ready to play tricks with exotic than with native 
flowers; we take much more pleasure in the whole 
life and growth of a Primrose or of a Bluebell than 
in the life and growth of a Dahlia or of Lilium Aura- 
tum. The Japanese have a great advantage over us 
in the splendour and variety of their native flora. 
Flowers must make a great appeal to the imagination 
of any one where Lilium Auratum is to be found grow- 
ing wild; and there must be little temptation there 
to make a sharp division between wild and garden 
flowers or to treat garden flowers as utterly artificial 
things. It may well be that the splendour of the native 
flora has had a most powerful influence upon Japanese 
art, and even that it has made the Japanese an artistic 
people. However that may be, there can be no doubt 
of the great part which flowers play both in their 
life and in their art. And their flowers are so closely 
connected with their art that even for us they are 
most strongly associated with it. Every one will 
have noticed how many Japanese flowers seem to 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 259 

have a peculiar Japanese character; and how by 
reason of that character they have a foreign look in 
our gardens. The explanation of this must be, not 
that they come from a very distant country, but that 
they are associated with an art utterly different from 
our own, so different that, however much we may 
admire and imitate it, it still remains strange and 
unreal to us. And thus Japanese flowers, beautiful 
as they are and in many cases easily grown in our 
gardens, are apt to look strange and unreal to us. 
They seem not works of nature, but the products of 
a fantastic Oriental mind. The Japanese have made 
decoration of their flowers with so little elimination 
or perversion of fact that the flowers themselves seem 
to us to be decoration, of an utterly alien kind, even 
when they are growing in our gardens or half wild 
in our woods. The hardy azaleas are grown every- 
where now, but there is still something in their beauty 
that is incongruous with our English gardens; and 
there is the same incongruity in nearly all Japanese 
shrubs which flower before their leaves are fully out, 
particularly in the early flowering magnolias. It is 
a curious fact that even Japanese flowers which are 
not familiar to us in Japanese art, such as the Platy- 
codon, have a Japanese look; and that the Funkias 
or Plantain Lilies which have been so long in our gar- 
dens still seem to belong to a different world from 
that of the Larkspurs and Phloxes and other border 
plants commonly associated with them. These plants 
have certain qualities of texture and form upon which 



260 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

the Japanese are apt to insist in their decorative 
treatment of flowers; and thus we seem to see Japanese 
art in the plants themselves, so strong is the influence 
of that art upon our minds. 

But however much we may admire and imitate it, 
it is not our art, and we cannot make it ours. Fa- 
miliarity with it only makes the things most commonly 
represented in it seem the more foreign to us. If it 
were not for Japanese art many Japanese plants 
would now seem quite homely to us which we still 
find incongruous with the ordinary plants of our gar- 
dens, and which for that reason we cannot love as 
much as we admire them. Beauty is not the only 
quality for which we love a flower. The very fact 
that flowers are the most beautiful objects in nature 
makes their associations so powerful that often these 
associations gather between us and the flower itself, 
so that we cannot see it exactly as it is but only through 
its associations. Often, of course, they are connected 
not only with its appearance, but with its scent, and 
the sense of smell calls up associations more quickly 
than the sense of sight. But for its scent. Mignonette 
would be a mere curiosity, and grown only in botanical 
collections. Bluebells are beautiful flowers, but it is 
their scent even more than their beauty that evokes 
for us all the delight of woods in May, the songs of 
birds and the whisper of leaves in the wind, as well 
as the coloured light and shadow. And it is the faint 
odour of Primroses which most powerfully reminds 
us of the mossy places in which they grow and of the 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 261 

cool and fitful weather of their flowering time. In 
fact, scent is to sight what poetry is to painting; less 
definite but far wider in its power, moving us more 
by association than by a direct appeal, enriching the 
present not merely with visions but with sounds and 
emotions of the past, and seeming to involve all the 
other senses and the mind as well in one complex de- 
light. 

It may be that our sense of smell is growing less 
acute. Certainly we seem to lay less store by scented 
flowers than our ancestors used to do, to judge by 
their writings. Bacon is not often a poetical writer, 
but when he speaks of the scent of flowers he writes, 
though in prose, like Shakespeare himself. The breath 
of flowers, he says, is far sweeter in the air (where it 
comes and goes like the warbling of music) than in 
the hand. There are many people now who never 
notice that a flower is scented at all unless it is thrust 
under their noses. Then the list which he gives of 
flowers that are fast of their smells and of those which 
yield them to the air proves that he was curious in 
this matter. He notes, for instance, that Strawberry 
leaves dying yield a most excellent cordial smell; and 
that Burnet, Wild Thyme, and Water-Mint perfume 
the air most delightfully, not passed by as the rest, 
but being trodden upon and crushed. "Therefore 
you are to set whole allies of them, to have the pleasure, 
when you walk or tread." Parkinson, too, is often 
very elaborate and exact in his description of scents, 
whether sweet or foul; and far more plants were 



262 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

grown in the past for their scent alone than are grown 
now. Indeed, we have become so indifferent to scent 
and all its delightful associations, that it is scarcely 
considered a fault in a new Rose or Carnation that 
it should be scentless. 

It may be that the present fashion for Alpine flowers 
has increased our indifference to scent, for few of them 
have much smell, and yet their associations are so 
strong and delightful that it is no wonder we should 
overlook this deficiency in them. Probably these 
associations, more even than their beauty, are the 
cause of their present popularity. It is only natural 
that when men take a delight in mountains they 
should also delight in the flowers that grow upon 
them. There are thousands of Englishmen now who 
think of their holidays always in connection with the 
Swiss mountains, and for whom, therefore, everything 
associated with those mountains has a peculiar de- 
light. They cannot have those mountains in their 
own gardens, though in one famous rock garden there 
is a miniature Matterhorn; but luckily they can, by 
the kindness of nature, have many of the mountain 
flowers. And these by reason of their character and 
beauty, in which they are so distinct from the flowers 
of the lowlands, do very powerfully call to mind their 
mountain homes. They are the only "outlandish" 
flowers in which we take delight because of their native 
associations, which seem to us wild, even in our own 
gardens, and which, therefore, we are as unwilling to 
associate with any kind of formality as our own Prim- 
roses and Bluebells and Honeysuckle. Many of them 



THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 263 

will grow quite well in the border, and yet so grown 
they seem to lose half their beauty with all their 
power of association. Therefore we make special 
places for them as congruous with their associations 
as possible. 

It is to be hoped, however, that as we travel more 
and more and further and further afield we shall not 
develop this kind of sensitiveness about all the for- 
eign plants which we find growing in their native 
homes. Gardening would become impossible if we 
tried to imitate the natural conditions of plants from 
all over the world, if the new associations of foreign 
travel were to destroy the old associations of our gar- 
dens; if we could no longer take delight in Lobelia 
cardinalis in the border because we had seen it grow- 
ing in an American wilderness; or if a cottage garden 
came to seem an absurdly artificial and incongruous 
place to us. But this is never likely to happen. At 
present our sense of the associations of flowers is 
weakened and troubled by many things, by the revolu- 
tion in gardening fashions which is still continuing, and 
by the multitude of new plants that are constantly 
introduced. There are some gardeners who prize 
novelty for its own sake and take no pleasure in fa- 
miliar beauties. But this time of revolution and dis- 
covery must come to an end; and then we shall find 
out which of the plants, new and old, we love the 
best; and about these associations will gradually 
gather again, and they will become familiar to us, 
we may hope, not only in our gardens, but also in 
our poetry and art. 



BULBS FOR SPRING PLANTING 

WE are all accustomed to think of autumn as 
the time for planting bulbs, and, indeed, most 
of our best and most familiar bulbs have to be planted 
in the autumn. Yet there are a good many bulbs 
not perfectly hardy in our winters which luckily do 
not, like Daffodils and Crocuses, begin their growth 
before the spring, and which can, therefore, be taken 
up and stored during the winter, and only planted 
when all fear of severe frost is over. Some of these, 
like the Gladioli, are quite familiar to us; but others 
are not often seen in our gardens and deserve to be 
grown more than they are. They are, as a rule, sun- 
loving plants, and should be planted in warm and 
sheltered places, with good drainage and light, rich 
soil. Gardeners often make the mistake of supposing 
that bulbs which grow in the poorest of soil in their 
native countries will necessarily need no more nourish- 
ment in England. It is natural to suppose this, but 
often wrong. For as human beings need more food 
in cold countries than in hot ones, so it is apt to be 
with plants. It has been discovered, for instance, 
that Iris tingitana, which thrives in Africa almost 
in the desert, will not usually flower in England with- 
out a good dose of manure under it. It is impossible 

to reproduce in England all the conditions to which 

264 



BULBS FOR SPRING PLANTING ^Q5 

an African plant is used, and, this being so, it may 
often be a mistake to attempt to reproduce as many 
of those conditions as possible. The inevitable want 
of one condition can perhaps only be supplied by a 
change in other conditions. Only experiment can 
determine how far this is the case, and, therefore, 
when a bulb from a hot country fails to flower in Eng- 
land it is always worth while to try a richer diet upon 
it. But manure when it is given to bulbs should al- 
ways be placed well below them so that they may 
not suffer from contact with it, and it should also be 
well rotted. 

Many of the bulbs which are best planted for the 
first time in spring can be left in the ground after- 
wards if they are in warm sheltered places, as, for 
instance, close to a south wall. Such bulbs, however, 
should be planted deep, and in hard winters protected 
with litter, which should be removed as soon as mild 
weather comes. But if these bulbs refuse to flower 
with this treatment, they should be lifted in the au- 
tumn. 

The best-known bulbs for spring planting are, as 
we have said, the Gladioli, but of these only the later 
flowering kinds should be planted in spring. The 
beautiful early flowering ones, of which there are 
now many varieties, start into growth in the winter 
and should be planted in late autumn, and protected, 
at least, for the first winter. Of the later flowering 
Gladioli there are now several groups and an infinite 
number of varieties. The groups also are tending. 



266 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

owing to hybridization between them, to lose all dis- 
tinctive qualities. Erom nurserymen's catalogues one 
can only learn, as a rule, that each group is generally 
considered superior to all the rest. The oldest group 
was G. gandavensis, supposed to be a hybrid between 
the natural species G. psittacinus and G. cardinalis, 
but other species were afterwards crossed with them. 
The well-known G. Brenchleyensis, the scarlet Gladio- 
lus, is probably only a form of gandavensis. The 
other groups are all hybrids either between Ganda- 
vensis and some natural species, or between Ganda- 
vensis and other hybrids. Thus G. Lemoinei is a 
hybrid between forms of gandavensis and G. pur- 
pureo-auratus, and the strain of the latter parent has 
produced some varieties that are almost blue. Then 
Mr. Lemoine has produced a new group, nanceianus, 
by crossing G. Lemoinei with a species of G. Saun- 
dersii. These have larger flowers than G. Lemoinei. 
Close to them are G. Childsii, hybrids of G. ganda- 
vensis and G. Saundersii. Of all these groups G. 
Lemoinei are the most distinct in their colours and 
markings. The largest of all gladioli is a new variety, 
Princeps, of a fine scarlet colour with a white stripe. 
The culture is the same for all. They may be planted 
from the beginning of April to the end of May, and 
the earliest planted come into flower about the middle 
of July. The Lemoinei group flower the earliest, the 
hybrids with G. Saundersii the latest. Gladioli are 
at their best in a rich loam, though they will do well 
enough in a light soil if it is well manured. The ground 



BULBS FOR SPRING PLANTING 267 

should be well dug and manured some months before 
planting, but no manure should be close to the bulbs. 
The position should be warm and sunny, and the 
plants must be watered in dry weather. The bulbs 
must not be lifted until they are thoroughly ripe — 
that is to say, not until the end of October. Then 
they should be kept in a dry place and protected from 
frost. 

Many Lilies are best planted in spring, especially 
those imported from Japan, which do not usually 
arrive in time to be planted earlier. But we have 
written of Lilies before. There is also little need to 
speak of such well-known plants as Montbretias, 
Galtonias (the Cape hyacinth), and Schizostylis coc- 
cinea. These are all hardy, except in the hardest 
winters in very cold parts of the country, but they 
are best planted in spring. The Schizostylis, or Kaffir 
Lily, is valuable because it flowers in late autumn. 
It requires the same kind of culture as Gladioli, but 
prefers a rather lighter soil, especially if it is not lifted. 
In very cold winters it should be protected. 

A bulb that deserves to be better known is Lapey- 
rousia (or Anomatheca) cruenta. It is like a very 
small Gladiolus, with scarlet flowers spotted a deeper 
colour. It should be planted about the end of March, 
and flowers for a long time, often persisting from July 
to September. It is an excellent bulb for the rock 
garden, as it is only about 9 in. high and requires sharp 
drainage. Otherwise it is quite easy to grow. It is 
not certainly hardy, but in a warm place will survive 



268 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

most winters if it is planted about 6 in. deep. The 
soil should be light and mixed with leaf-mould and 
rubble. 

The beautiful Amaryllis belladonna is hardy in 
a warm place, as, for instance, against a south wall. 
It likes a rich loam mixed with leaf -mould and rubble, 
and should be planted 9 in. deep. Sharp drainage 
is very important, and a good layer of manure well 
below the bulbs will encourage it to flower well. It 
should be disturbed as seldom as possible. 

Crinum longifolium (C. capense), a noble bulb 
closely related to the Amaryllis, is still hardier, and 
may be grown in a sunny border. It has pale pink 
flowers, and there is a beautiful white variety. It 
likes a rich soil and plenty of water while growing. 
C. Moorei and C. Powelli are scarcely less hardy. 
There is a splendid white variety of C. Powelli. They 
need the same cultivation as Crinum longifolium. 
The genus Zephyranthes is also closely related to the 
genus Amaryllis. Nearly all its species are tender, 
but one, Zephyranthes Candida, seems to be quite 
hardy in warm situations in most parts of England. 
In South America it is a marsh plant, but, like its 
fellow countryman, Nierembergia rivularis, it re- 
quires good drainage in England. The soil should 
be rich and the position sunny. The flowers are white 
and like those of a crocus, only more starry; some- 
times they are slightly tinged with pink. It is an ex- 
cellent bulb for the rock garden, especially as it flowers 
in September, when rock gardens usually have few 



BULBS FOR SPRING PLANTING 269 

jBowers. Zephyranthes Atamasco, a very beautiful 
plant with large white flowers flushed with pink when 
they first open, is hardy in very warm places, but 
should be protected in winter. It is also a marsh 
plant by nature, but needs the same culture in Eng- 
land as Zephyranthes Candida. 

The Tigridias are well enough known, but not so 
much grown as they deserve. It is true their flowers 
last but a short time, but they are so strangely beauti- 
ful and borne so frequently that this may be forgiven 
them. They belong to the Iris family, and in shape 
are rather like Irises, though the petals which would 
be "standards" in the Iris are pressed back upon the 
"falls " or lower petals. Tigridias come from Mexico — 
Tigridia pavonia is the species commonly grown — 
and it is not safe to leave them out all the year in 
England, though they will often survive mild winters. 
They should, therefore, be treated like Gladioli, planted 
out in March, lifted when the leaves die down, and 
stored for the winter in sand. They like a very sunny 
position and a rich, well-drained soil. They do miser- 
ably if they are starved either of food or of sun. In 
very dry weather they should be well watered. They 
begin to flower in July and continue, when well treated, 
for about two months. Most of them are self-coloured 
on the outer part of their broad lower petals, and 
strongly spotted in the middle. There is a yellow, 
variety, spotted crimson; a scarlet variety, with darker 
spots on a yellow ground; a beautiful white variety, 
with deep pink spots; and a pure white variety. 



270 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

The Nerines are beautiful bulbs for the green- 
house, but Nerlne Sarniensis, the Guernsey Lily, is 
worth trying out of doors in a very warm spot with 
the same culture as Amaryllis belladonna. It should 
be carefully protected in winter and disturbed as sel- 
dom as possible. It is only a bulb for the skilled gar- 
dener, but its beauty is so great and strange that it 
is worth some trouble. 

The Pancratiums are little grown in our gardens, 
but Pancratium Illyricum is a beautiful plant, closely 
related to the Daffodil, and hardy, at least in most 
winters, in the south of England. It should be planted 
as early as possible, as it flowers in June. It likes a 
good sandy loam in a well-drained sunny position. 
The flowers are white, curiously shaped, and sweet 
scented. Pancratium maritimum also has white 
scented flowers, but it is not so beautiful as P. Illyri- 
cum. It flowers a month later. It was apparently 
known to Parkinson; at least the plant, which he calls 
Narcissus marinus, or the great white Sea Daffodil, 
seems to be the same, though his illustration of it is 
rather conventional. He remarks that "it will not 
thrive and bear flowers if it be often transplanted, but 
rather desires to abide in one place without removing." 

Parkinson also speaks of another most beautiful 
bulb not often seen in our gardens — namely, Or- 
nithogalum Arabicum, "the Great Starre-flower of 
Arabia," but he gives it the bad reputation which 
it still possesses. He recommends that it be kept 
out of the ground from September to February in a 



BULBS FOR SPRING PLANTING 271 

dry place and then planted under a south wall. But, 
even with this care, it will seldom flower more than 
once in England. Luckily, however, it is a cheap 
bulb to buy and far the most beautiful of its genus. 

Milla biflora is the only species which is still al- 
lowed to this unfortunate genus. It has beautiful 
white starry flowers in late summer; and, as it only 
grows a foot high, is an excellent bulb for the rock 
garden. It is not hardy and should be treated like 
the Gladioli. 

Crocosma (or Tritonia) aurea is a pretty little plant 
like a small Montbretia. It has orange red flowers 
in late summer. It is not quite as hardy, perhaps, 
as the Montbretias, but in warm places will stand 
most winters. Like the Montbretia it increases very 
rapidly, and the bulbs will overcrowd each other if 
they are not taken up and replanted every two or 
three years. They should be taken up when the 
leaves die down, and it is then safest to store them 
for the next winter. 

It is, of course, a common practice to plant many 
species and varieties of Anemone in spring, but, ex- 
cept in very cold heavy soils, those which are usually 
planted in spring, such as the varieties of Anemone 
coronaria, are better planted in August or September, 
or, better still, raised from seed, sown where they 
are to grow. Anemone fulgens seldom does much 
the first year if it is planted in spring. Early autumn 
is the best time for planting it, as also for the varieties 
of Anemone stellata or hortensis. The varieties of 



272 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

Ranunculus Asiaticus, however, are best planted in 
February or March; although the Turkish or Tur- 
ban Ranunculi are hardier than the French or Persian, 
and will often do well if planted in October or Novem- 
ber. These garden Ranunculi have gone out of fash- 
ion with other flowers that suggest Dresden china. 
But they have a considerable precise beauty of their 
own and their colours are exquisite. It is a pity that 
single forms of them are not more cultivated. The 
single scarlet species, however, is now becoming pop- 
ular, and it is to be hoped that its beauty will cause 
a demand for single varieties of other colours. The 
Ranunculi require careful cultivation to do well. The 
soil must be rich and strong, but not too heavy, and 
they must not be allowed to suffer from drought 
while growing. They like a sunny position and are 
apt to rot away if planted in very wet weather. Neither 
Anemones nor Ranunculi are really bulbs, nor have 
they any resemblance to bulbs; but since they are 
treated like bulbs we may be excused for speaking 
of them now. There are many Cape bulbs worth a 
trial in English gardens which we have not mentioned, 
but most of them are little known at present and 
should be tested by experts before they are attempted 
by the ordinary gardener who does not wish his experi- 
ence to be costly and painful. 



RAISING PERENNIALS FROM SEED 

MOST gardeners show curiously little enterprise 
in the matter of raising perennial plants from 
seed. Of course the expert gardener increases and 
improves his stock of plants in this way more than 
in any other. But the ordinary amateur seems to 
be very shy of attempting what is both the most 
profitable and the most exciting process of all the 
many delightful processes of gardening. Wallflowers, 
Snapdragons, Pentstemons, Hollyhocks, and other 
doubtful perennials are raised from seed as a matter 
of course. But the true perennials are usually either 
bought or begged to start with, and afterwards in- 
creased by cuttings or by the slow and sometimes 
injurious process of division. Now it is true that 
some perennials are difficult to raise from seed, and 
others take a long time before they flower. Many 
bulbous plants, for instance, such as Dafi'odils, Tulips, 
and Lilies, often take six years or more. But the 
great majority are scarcely more difficult than an- 
nuals or biennials, and even those that are difficult 
or slow will come much more easily and quickly from 
seed sown as soon as it is ripe. Besides, seed even 
of rare plants is seldom very dear; and it is always 
worth while to experiment even if nothing comes of 

it. But the great advantage of raising perennials 

273 



274 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

from seed consists in the chances of getting some 
fine new variety, chances which exist for the humble 
amateur as well as for the great florist. Many of the 
most beautiful modern novelties have been produced 
by amateurs without large trial grounds or even large 
gardens; and if it were a common practice for ama- 
teurs to raise perennials from seed, no doubt the num- 
ber of fine novelties would be greatly increased. Again, 
the amateur, if he raises his own plants, can consult 
his own taste and aim at his own ideal in the case of 
those plants, such as Larkspurs and Columbines, 
which vary much from seed. Many of these can be 
developed without any skill in hybridizing and merely 
by the selection of seed from those varieties which 
are most to the gardener's taste. The gardener who 
is in the habit of raising perennials from seed will 
look into every garden with a curious eye, and if, as 
very often happens, he sees an unusually fine variety 
of some plant, he can beg a little seed of it without 
misgiving. No one minds giving seed, at least no true 
gardener, unless it be from a plant so precious that 
every seed must be treasured; and the gift of seed 
can always be repaid with a plant or two a few months 
later. Then the gardener may choose some particular 
plant to develop in this way; and if he chooses dis- 
creetly and proceeds systematically he may do wonders 
in a few years without occupying much ground or 
taking very much trouble. A great number of peren- 
nials, if the seed is sown as soon as ripe, will flower 
the next year. Some, if the seed is sown in early 



RAISING PERENNIALS FROM SEED 275 

spring, will flower the same year; and only com- 
paratively few take more than two years from sowing 
to flower. 

Speaking roughly we may say that monocoty- 
ledonous plants take longer than dicotyledonous 
plants to flower from seed, and are more troublesome 
to manage. But it was a common practice among 
English gardeners in the seventeenth century to raise 
Tulips from seed, and there is no reason why any 
amateur should not increase his stock of any rare 
species by this means, if he has the patience. The 
seed of most spring-flowering bulbous plants usually 
germinates very early in the year, and it is best to 
sow them some time in the summer or autumn in a 
box or pan and keep them in a cold house or frame 
through the winter and early spring. The seed of 
ordinary dicotyledonous perennials should be sown 
either when ripe or in the spring or early summer of 
the next year. It is safest always to sow them in 
boxes, or, in the case of the smaller and more delicate 
Alpines, in pans. Many perennials will germinate 
quickly and readily with the most ordinary routine. 
All that is needed is light, rich, and fairly fine soil, 
say a mixture of sandy loam and leaf-mould, and 
that the seed boxes be regularly watered with a fine 
rose and kept shaded and cool in hot weather. In 
all cases seed should be so^m as thinly as possible 
and covered with a layer of soil proportionate to their 
size. Very small seed, as of the Saxifrages and Cam- 
panulas, should be mixed before sowing with a much 



276 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

larger amount of silver sand and scarcely if at all 
covered. If the seed is carefully mixed with the sand, 
the sower will be able to tell by the distribution of 
the sand upon the surface of the soil whether the seed 
is evenly sown. Seedlings that are too thick are 
hampered in growth from their very birth, and may 
have to be pricked out before they are ready for that 
process. Very fine seed should never be sown in a 
draughty place, as the wind may blow it all about. 
More failures in the raising of seedlings come from 
excessive or irregular watering than from any other 
cause; and plants that are difficult to raise must be 
watered with great care and delicacy. But we are 
now dealing with ordinary perennials, and the gar- 
dener who is raising these will easily be able to see 
whether the soil is too dry or too much sodden with 
wet. He should water them carefully every day, and 
before the seed is sown he should see that the soil is 
thoroughly and evenly moist down to the bottom of 
the box. To ensure this it is best to water the soil 
before it is put into the box. In the case of strong 
growing and rich feeding plants it is a good plan to 
cover the bottom of the box with a layer of manure. 
The seedlings will root down into this and can be 
transplanted with their roots still fastened to it. But 
the box must be fairly deep when manure is used, so 
that the seedlings may not reach it while still very 
young, and the manure must be very well rotted. 
Manure from an old hotbed is the best to use. The 
seedlings must be pricked out as soon as they begin 



RAISING PERENNIALS FROM SEED 277 

to hamper each other's growth. And this fact shows 
the great advantage of thin sowing. Perennials that 
are thinly sown can often be kept in the seed box until 
they are ready to be planted out of doors, and thus a 
great deal of trouble is saved. It is well to have a plot 
of ground in the kitchen garden for seedlings; and there 
they may be left until the autumn, when they can be 
planted where they are to flower next year, or else, 
if the gardener intends to keep only the best of them, 
they can remain until they flower the next year. When 
seed is sown as soon as it is ripe, it is often safest to 
winter the seedlings in a frame, unless they have 
grown very strong; and for this reason most gar- 
deners prefer to sow the seed of perennials in the 
spring, so that they may be large enough to face the 
next winter out of doors. 

It would be impossible to give anything like a com- 
plete list of perennials that are easily raised from seed. 
We can only name some of the best and easiest of 
them, and they are enough to stock a large garden. 
All the perennial Larkspurs are very easily raised 
from seed, both the innumerable hybrids and species 
such as D. formosum and D. grandiflorum and the 
scarlet D. nudicaule and D. cardinale, both of which, 
however, are only doubtful perennials. It is now 
possible to get seed of the beautiful pale blue D. bella- 
donna, and this is said to come true. All perennial 
Larkspurs will flower the next year from seed sown 
as soon as it is ripe, and some will flower the same 
year from seed sown in early spring. Columbines are 



278 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

as easily raised from seed as Larkspurs, and vary as 
much. We have written before in some detail of these 
beautiful plants and of the possibilities of their fur- 
ther development, so there is no need to say anything 
further on the subject now. 

Most of the Campanulas are easily raised from seed, 
particularly C. persicifolia, C. carpatica, C. grandis, 
C. lactiflora, C. latifolia pyramidalis, and C. rhom- 
boidalis, besides many small species and hybrids 
suitable for the rock garden. C. persicifolia and C. 
carpatica vary a good deal from seed, and very fine 
varieties may be got by careful selection. Alstroeme- 
rias, although of the Narcissus family, soon flower 
from seed. The seed should be sown as soon as ripe 
and the seedlings planted out in the spring if they are 
strong enough. They should be well established in 
any case before they face a winter out of doors. An- 
chusa italica, a doubtful perennial, comes as easily 
from seed as any biennial, and fine forms can now be 
got from seed of the splendid Dropmore variety. 
Anemone coronaria is quite easily raised from seed 
sown as soon as ripe, but the seed should be sown out 
of doors, and kept well shaded until the seedlings 
are strong. The finest Anemones are those which 
are left to flower where the seed is sown. A. fulgens 
can be raised as easily as A. coronaria. Michaelmas 
Daisies are easily raised from seed, but so easily in- 
creased by division that it is best to get a large stock 
of the finer varieties in this way. The Catananches, 
Centaurea montana, the perennial species of Coreopsis, 



RAISING PERENNIALS FROM SEED 279 

Commelina caelestis, the Dracocephalums, Echmops, 
most species of Eryngium, Erodium Manescavi, most 
species of Cranesbill, Gaillardias, Geums, the peren- 
nial Gypsophilas, Linaria Dalmatica, the perennial 
Linums, Lobelias, and Lupins, Lychnis chalcedonica, 
L. Haageana and L. viscaria, Malva moschata, Morina 
longifolia, (Enothera macrocarpa (or Missouriensis) , 
(E. speciosa and (E. fruticosa, the perennial Poppies, 
the Pentstemons, species as well as hybrids, Platy- 
codon grandiflorum, the Polemoniums, the Potentillas, 
nearly all the perennial species of Pinks, the Salvias, 
the Caucasian Scabious, the Statices, and the Violas 
or Tufted Pansies, as well as many species of Viola 
— these are only some of the most familiar of our 
garden plants that can be raised from seed with the 
most ordinary care. They will all, or nearly all, flower 
the year after the seed is sown, and most of them will 
be fine plants by that time. About 60 plants have 
been obtained from one penny packet of the seed of 
(Enothera macrocarpa, some of which flowered the 
same year that the seed was sown. These plants, 
if bought from a nurseryman, would probably have 
cost sixpence apiece; so that the transaction, which 
entailed very. little trouble or skill, was a profitable 
one. 

There are, of course, many plants which are less 
easy to raise from seed. Either the seed is slow and 
irregular in germinating, especially when not quite 
fresh, or the seedlings take a long time to reach ma- 
turity. It is often diiSScult, for instance, to get the 



280 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

seed of Phloxes to germinate, although self-sown 
seedlings of some varieties come freely in certain 
years. This is also the case with the seed of the Gen- 
tianella, a capricious plant in all respects, which grows 
and seeds itself like a weed in some places, and in 
others only lingers and dwindles. It is a good plan 
to soak the seed of both these plants for some hours 
before sowing in tepid water; but even then, if the 
seed is not fresh, disappointments must be expected. 
Again, the seed of Auriculas, and of many other kinds 
of Primula, such as P. Japonica, is slow and capricious 
of germination, unless it is sown as soon as ripe. But, 
in all these cases, the gardener should not despair 
after a few months. Seed sown in June may not ger- 
minate till the next spring. The seed boxes should 
be kept in frames through the winter, and then put 
out in warm spring rains. A sudden crop of seedlings 
will often be the result. Snow often produces ger- 
mination in certain stubborn seeds, particularly those 
of the Gentians; and it is worth while to expose a 
box of these to a fall of snow in early spring. There 
are many plants which may ripen seeds in England 
in hot summers, so the gardener should choose his 
own time to experiment with them. Indeed he will 
be wise to try most of his bolder experiments in seed 
sowing after a hot summer; as the seed, even of plants 
well accustomed to our climate, is apt to be uncer- 
tain when there has been little sun to ripen it. It is 
well always to be on the look-out for seed even on 
plants that are not generally supposed to ripen it in 



RAISING PERENNIALS FROM SEED 281 

England. There is no strict rule in such matters; and 
sometimes a plant that has never even formed seed 
before will suddenly bear it and ripen it profusely. 
Then the gardener, if he is watchful, may get a large 
stock of a rare plant for nothing except his pains. 
It is difficult to give precise directions for the treat- 
ment of capricious seed, or of seedlings that are hard 
to bring up. Different plants need different treatment 
at all periods of their life; and general principles, if 
easy to lay down, are hard to apply. Watering is 
the most important point, and the keeping of the soil 
fresh and sweet. Boxes or pans that are to contain 
seedlings impatient of stagnant moisture should be 
well drained, but in such a case the soil should be of 
such a nature that it will not dry very quickly. It 
is, therefore, a good plan to use a compost retentive 
of moisture, such as rough peat and fibrous loam and 
leaf mould; but the surface, as in all seed beds, must 
be much finer, and should consist of well-sifted soil 
mixed with silver sand. In this the seed can be easily 
covered and will germinate readily, and as the seed- 
lings grow they will throw down their roots into 
the richer and rougher soil below. Gardeners often 
take great trouble to make all the soil in their seed 
boxes very fine, with the result that it holds no mois- 
ture, and that the seeds do not germinate, or that the 
seedlings wither up in their first infancy. It is a good 
plan to cover up seed boxes with a sheet of glass or 
even a newspaper, to prevent evaporation. But this 
must be removed soon after the seeds have germinated. 



282 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

No seedlings, of course, must be exposed to a hot sun, 
but they should have as much light and air as possible 
from the first. They always require careful watching 
in their youth, and it is only by that means that the 
gardener can learn how to treat them. He should 
also know something of the habits of plants which 
he wishes to raise from seed, as that knowledge will 
give him some idea how much they ought to be watered, 
how much sun they will endure, and what amount of 
drainage and what kind of soil they will need. Of 
course, in natural conditions, the seed germinates 
near where the parent plant grows; and the gardener's 
aim should be, not to depart entirely from these con- 
ditions, but only to modify them so as to make germina- 
tion more certain. 

These are only a few general hints on a very large 
subject, but they may be of use, at any rate, to those 
amateurs who have never themselves attempted the 
most exciting and delightful of all gardening processes. 



THE BEAUTY AND CHARACTER OF 
FLOWERS 

ONE might become very metaphysical over the 
beauty of flowers; and it would be good for 
metaphysicians to observe their beauty disinterestedly 
for a long time before attempting to deal with aesthetic 
questions. "To look with the eye confounds the wis- 
dom of ages." It gives you a respect for facts, for the 
thing in itself. It makes you cautious of theories, 
not from scepticism, but for fear lest they should im- 
poverish your sense of the value of things. A disin- 
terested love of flowers enriches that sense. For 
flowers, so far as we are concerned, are simply beau- 
tiful things. We cannot argue about them as we 
argue about works of art. Even the Senior Wrangler 
who wanted to know what "Paradise Lost" proved 
would not have made the same demand about a rose. 
Men make works of art, and it is open to any one to 
say that they might be better employed. But flowers 
are made by nature, just like ourselves, and if we 
question their right to exist, we question our own. 
Therefore, no one does question their right to exist 
or the pleasure which they give us. It is part of the 
process of life. Flowers are beautiful, and we are 
made to enjoy their beauty, just as we are made to 

eat and sleep; and there is an end of it. We cannot 

283 



284 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

enjoy the beauty of works of art in the same simple 
unquestioning way, for behind the work of art is the 
artist, a man Hke ourselves, however superior, who 
expresses all his character in his work, his infirmities 
as well as his virtues; and we like or dislike his work 
as we like or dislike his character. It bears the mark 
of his age and race and a hundred other marks of 
circumstance, all of which have some kind of signifi- 
cance and association for us, pleasant or disagreeable. 
And thus we are never quite just to works of art, and 
never can see their beauty with disinterested eyes. 
There is always something involved in it which affects 
other faculties besides our sense of beauty. Now- 
adays, for instance, the beauty of Italian Primitive 
pictures is heightened for us, because we think of 
them as produced in the springtime of the modern 
world. Their promise, like the promise of Crocuses 
and Daffodils, is more delightful to us than the mid- 
summer pomps of the high Renaissance. In the same 
way, the beauty of the Bologna eclectics is hidden 
from us because it has the sickly taint of a declining 
age. Our historical sense interferes with our sense 
of beauty. We have learnt to believe that no Italian 
of the seventeenth century had a real faith or real 
emotions, and we scent unreality and pretence in all 
their works. Luckily, we have no historical sense 
about flowers. It may be that we love the flowers 
of spring better than those of autumn; but, unless 
we are morbid, we are reconciled to the succession of 
the seasons and can take a delight in it. It is in the 



THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS 285 

nature of things that the beauty of autumn should 
differ from the beauty of spring. We do not feel any 
human waste or perversity in the decline of the year 
any more than in the sunset. There is sometimes a 
fashion among poets to lament the autumn; but 
that is only because they produce melodious tears 
more easily than melodious laughter. There is no 
true analogy, as we all know, between 

Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang — 

and the old age of men; for spring follows winter, 
but age does not change into youth. It is the great 
merit of Keats's "Ode to Autumn" that it is full of 
delight in that delightful season without any han- 
kering after another. 

Where are the songs of spring ? Ay, where are they ? 

Think not of them, thou hast thy music, too, — 
While barred clouds bloom the soft dying day. 

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; 
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn 

Among the river sallows, borne aloft 

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies. 

So it is, too, with the flowers of autumn. They have 
their own beauty, and it is mere wilfulness of fancy 
and waste of emotion to connect it with thoughts of 
death and irrevocable loss. In all wild flowers there 
is a free gift of delight to us, with no poison in it and 
nothing to provoke criticism. They seem to express 
a happiness inherent in life, to be the art of nature 



286 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

herself, and to show us what our own art ought to 
be, and would be, if we could purify it of sick fancies 
and disgusts, and vain subtleties and ambitions, and 
affectations. 

But so soon as flowers are altered and developed 
by men there is something in their beauty that pro- 
vokes criticism at once. For they are connected, 
like works of art, with men's ideas and purposes; and 
therefore we like or dislike them according as we 
like or dislike those ideas and purposes. Of course 
all flowers, even those which have suffered the great- 
est garden change, have still something of wild na- 
ture in them. They are children of the earth and 
only pupils of the gardener; and, though they may 
express for us a phase of taste which we dislike, they 
do not express it so merely as furniture or pictures. 
But, still, they do express it; and we cannot look 
upon whatever beauty they may possess with disin- 
terested eyes. There are flowers, for instance, like 
the prim double Dahlias and Ranunculuses which 
remind us of the blossoms on Dresden china, and 
which have, no doubt, been developed by the same 
kind of taste that produced those blossoms. If we 
like Dresden china, we shall like these flowers; and 
there are a hundred subtle causes connected with 
our whole view and experience of life which affect 
our taste in such things. The artificiality of a few 
years ago is always distasteful to us. We have just 
escaped from it and see only its absurdities. But the 
artificiality of a remoter past often has some romance 



THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS 287 

for us, half pathetic and half amusing; and when we 
are sated with one kind of artifice we turn with relief 
to another that is less familiar. Thus we are inclined 
just now to be sated with flowers that are loose and 
floppy and fantastic in shape, and hectic or over- 
refined in colour, flowers like some of the tree Pseonies 
and Tea-roses, and tuberous Begonias; and, there- 
fore, we have a kindlier feeling for the old prim flowers 
which, at least, did not look exhausted by their efforts 
to be beautiful, which bore themselves with some 
reserve, and were not dishevelled by any violence of 
wind and rain. In all these cases it is the human 
element in the flower that provokes reactions and 
changes of fashion. The gardener exaggerates its 
natural qualities in one direction or another to suit 
his own taste; and its beauty at once becomes subject 
to the insecurities of taste which affect all beautiful 
things made by men. But the beauty of flowers un- 
changed by men is not subject to these insecurities 
— or subject to them only when the flowers are grown 
in unnatural conditions. Wild flowers have developed 
in their own world and seem to be as perfectly fitted 
to it as stars to the sky. One can no more see the 
true beauty of Houseleeks or Stone Crops when they 
are forced into the pattern of a carpet bed than one 
can see the true beauty of wild animals in a cage at 
the Zoo. There is a mystery of fitness in all beauty, 
and the way to be sure of it is to study the beauty 
of wild flowers, of Woodruff on a shady bank, or 
Bluebells under wild Cherry blossom in a wood, or 



288 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

Daffodils about a stream in an open meadow. Take 
these away from their surroundings and they are still 
beautiful; but they have lost almost as much of their 
beauty as the Columbines in the Bacchus and Ariadne 
would lose if they were cut out of the canvas. 

The best kind of gardening is based upon a sense 
of the beauty, not merely of individual flowers, but of 
flowers growing in natural conditions; yet gardening, 
like all art, must do something more than imitate 
nature. We cannot even pretend to provide many 
of our finest garden plants with natural conditions. 
They are like domesticated animals that in this coun- 
try need constant human care if they are to thrive. 
And then we have to remember that nature is often 
content to make a particular spot beautiful with 
flowers for only two or three weeks in the year. Dur- 
ing these weeks that spot may be the despair of the 
gardener, but at other times it is overgrown with 
weeds. Nature makes no compromises, but the gar- 
dener must be always making them. And yet, like 
other artists, while he modifies nature to suit his own 
purposes, he must still keep a respect for her modesty 
and a love of her beauty in his heart. He should never 
be a mere virtuoso and do violence to nature just to 
show how clever he is. Flowers are the facts of a 
garden, and they must not be distorted or exaggerated 
or wrongly related to each other, for they are facts 
beautiful in themselves and introduced only for that 
reason; and they all have a certain character in their 
beauty which can be strengthened or weakened by 



THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS S89 

the manner in which they are treated. There are, 
for instance, broad differences of character between 
monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous flowers, be- 
tween Irises and Lilies and Tulips and Narcissi on 
the one hand, and Roses and Pinks and Campanulas 
on the other. The beauty of the monocotyledons is 
both simpler and more mysterious than the beauty 
of the dicotyledons. The dicotyledons are usually 
inferior in purity both of colour and of form; and 
yet we are apt to love them better, because with less 
perfection they seem in their greater complexity to 
be nearer to human beings. There is something 
strange and remote even in so familiar a flower as 
the German Iris. Its beauty beside that of the Rose 
is like the beauty of the sea compared with the beauty 
of the earth. Everything about it seems mutable 
and unsubstantial, as if it had been made by enchant- 
ment and might vanish by the same means. Iris 
colours are liquid or cloudy. It has got its very 
name from a beauty of the sky. But the colours of 
the Rose, though less pure, seem to be more fixed. 
One cannot think of them as flushing and then fading 
again like a rainbow; and the whole plant looks as 
if it were firmly rooted in the earth and had grown 
slowly out of it by a natural process, not by any en- 
chantment. The Iris, leaf and flower, seems to be all 
of a piece and created at a stroke; so do the Tulip 
and the Narcissus and the Lily. There is a much 
stronger difference in the parts of a Rose and much 
more wayward variety of growth. In the flowers of 



290 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

monocotyledons there is often an unfathomable com- 
plexity of colour, as on the surface of the sea; but in 
dicotyledons there seems to be a greater complexity 
of nature and purpose, as in the earth; and there- 
fore they look more at home upon the earth, and as 
if they were its inhabitants and not passing visitors 
from an unknown state of being. 

These may seem fanciful distinctions, but they can 
be applied to some purpose in the arrangement of 
flowers. It is certain that the beauty of monocoty- 
ledons is of one kind and the beauty of dicotyledons 
of another, and also that these different beauties are 
enhanced by intermixture and contrast. A number 
of Tulips or Daffodils or Spanish Irises grown by them- 
selves are apt to look monotonous and unsubstantial. 
Their true character is revealed only when they are 
mingled with plants of another nature, when they 
seem to have sprung up among them by chance, giving 
a last touch of strangeness and wonder to the beauty 
of the whole. Any formality of arrangement is con- 
trary to their nature. They should look as if they 
had alit among the leafage of other plants like a flight 
of glittering birds. Then our pleasure in them is not 
troubled by the thought that they will so soon be 
withered. Their fugitive brilliance is at its best when 
contrasted with the more quiet and enduring beauty 
of other plants, and especially of shrubs, such as 
Rosemary or some of the Veronicas which never look 
dishevelled or exhausted with flowering. These give 
the sense of permanence that is needed in all garden 



THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS 291 

design, and the same kind of foil that nature pro- 
vides for her momentary splendours. 

There are some flowers which seem to keep a wild 
beauty however familiar they are to our gardens, and 
others which look as if they could never grow wild 
anywhere, but must have been created for the gar- 
den. Nearly all the Campanulas look wild wherever 
they are, and as if they ought to be in the woods or 
on the mountains. The Cranesbill is always a wild- 
looking plant, whereas its near relation the zonal 
pelargonium, commonly called the Geranium, is the 
tamest of flowers. Tame flowers are not, however, 
to be condemned for their tameness. They might 
look out of place in a hedgerow, but they often look 
beautiful enough in a garden. Sometimes they look 
tame because they have been developed by the gar- 
dener. Thus garden roses are often the tamest of 
flowers, and wild roses the wildest. But some flowers 
look tame only because they come from some far 
country with a flora utterly unlike our own, and be- 
cause therefore we can think of them only as growing 
in gardens. Lilium auratum grows wild in Japan, 
but for us it is entirely a garden flower, since there is 
nothing at all like it among our wild flowers; whereas 
many even of the most exotic Campanulas remind 
us of our own Harebell or some other native species. 
It is well to bear in mind the wildness or tameness 
of different flowers when planning their arrangement. 
One must not be too subtle in such matters; but, 
where there is a large garden with some parts of it 



292 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

wilder than others, it is easy to make some separation 
between the wilder and tamer looking plants; not to 
put Bluebells, for instance, in the same kind of posi- 
tion as garden Hyacinths, or to mix the natural species 
of Roses with hybrid perpetuals. It is in wild gar- 
dening that a sense of the character of flowers is most 
needed, for plants such as Dahlias, Kniphofias, double 
Pseonies, or garden Pinks look most dismally out of 
place in any imitation of a wilderness. It is the same 
with a rock garden. There the single mountain pinks 
look their best and the double garden Pinks are as 
inappropriate as weeds. But place a mountain Pink 
in the border, and, even if it thrives, half its beauty 
is lost. The mountain Pink is a wild flower, the gar- 
den Pink a tame one; and, if we can, we should treat 
each accordingly. All beauty has a character of its 
own, and the character of flowers is most clearly shown 
when they are placed in conditions that suit that 
character — in artificial conditions if the character is 
artificial, in natural conditions if it is natural. It is 
only by studying the character of flowers and having 
regard to it that the gardener can achieve those subtle- 
ties of beauty which look as if they had come by 
chance, but which really are the last triumphs of his 
art. 



SAXIFRAGES! 

THERE is no genus of hardy plants so diverse 
in form as the saxifrages, and none, perhaps, 
with such a multitude of species and varieties. But 
the diversity of the saxifrages is mainly in their leaf- 
age and habit of growth. Their flowers vary, of course, 
in size, in colour, and in shape; but less than the 
flowers of many other genera, far less than the flowers 
of the orchids; while even orchids do not vary so 
much in their whole appearance. There are mossy 
saxifrages; saxifrages growing in rosettes, some, at 
their largest, 9 in. across, some smaller than the flower 
of the daisy; saxifrages with great leathery leaves, 
some of them rather coarse border plants; saxifrages 
in close minute tufts, obviously high mountain plants, 
and only to be grown with some skill on rock work; 
and saxifrages of the London Pride class, the most 
homely of plants, yet with the peculiar character 
and grace of the family. There is Saxifraga peltata, 
the umbrella plant, so called from its great spreading 
leaves, sometimes 18 in. wide; and, for contrast with 
this, there are Saxifraga caesia and Saxifraga squar- 
rosa, the single leaves of which are almost too small 
to be distinguished, while a large plant of either of 

^ Most of the Saxifrages are difficult in the United States, though with 
pains many can be successfully grown. 

293 



294 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

them could be covered with the leaf of a geranium. 
And saxifrages are no less varied in their habits and 
requirements. Some species could be found to thrive 
in almost any part of the largest and most diversified 
garden that it is possible to conceive. The greater 
number are rock plants, indeed, they are the chief 
of all rock plants; but some are natives of marshes, 
others like cool, shady places in an ordinary border, 
others will grow anywhere. Few are really difficult, 
and the difficult ones are seldom the most beautiful 
in a genus that is full of beauty. The saxifrages are 
never likely to be popular with those who grow plants 
only for their flowers, for their beauty and their peculiar 
charm are nearly always as much in their habit of 
growth as in their blossoms. These are seldom bril- 
liant or conspicuous. No one would use saxifrages 
for bedding out or "to make a show." The best of 
them are plants for the gardener who delights in char- 
acter and in fitting the plant to the place. Saxifrages 
seem to belong to a situation that suits their char- 
acter like moss to a stone; and, even if they thrive 
in one that does not, they look like exiles making the 
best of their banishment. Even the familiar London 
Pride does not consort well with the ordinary plants 
of the border; and those who think of it as a dull 
thing will be surprised at its beauty when they see 
it in some cool, rocky place among oak-ferns and 
Primulas. In fact, all, or nearly all, saxifrages are 
determinedly wild plants. They have suited their 
character to certain natural conditions; and, al- 



SAXIFRAGES 295 

though many of them will grow well enough in the 
ordinary conditions of the gardens, they will not take 
on the air of a garden plant. Very few of them, there- 
fore, are plants for the border. They belong either 
to the wild outskirts of the garden or to rock work; 
and most of them belong to rockwork. 

It is easy enough to talk in general terms of saxi- 
frages, but the most learned expert must have some 
fears when he comes to particulars; and that not 
merely because of the multitude of species and varie- 
ties, nor because there is much dispute about the 
cultivation of most of them, but simply because of 
their names. There is no lack of names among saxi- 
frages, indeed there are too many; and the difficulty 
is to apportion them. Saxifrages, especially certain 
divisions of them, are extremely variable, and hy- 
bridize almost as readily as Columbines. Nursery- 
men and others have taken a delight in giving new 
names to all the minute variations they can distinguish 
and to innumerable and often indistinct hybrids; 
and these names have been given recklessly and with- 
out reference to any universally acknowledged au- 
thority. The consequence is that some saxifrages 
have several different names, while others share the 
same name between them. Any one who wants to 
get an idea of the anarchy which prevails in this matter 
should read the chapters on saxifrages in Mr. Reginald 
Farrer's book "My Rock Garden." Mr. Farrer is 
an expert indeed, and has perhaps the largest collec- 
tion of saxifrages in the world. Yet their names 



296 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

often baffle him, and half his time he is explaining 
that the familiar name of some well-known variety 
is not the right one. In the matter of names, there- 
fore, one must do the best one can, avoiding tiresome 
controversies and also, as far as possible, avoiding 
misleading errors. 

Some idea of the complexity of the subject may be 
gathered from the fact that the innumerable different 
species and varieties of saxifrages are usually divided 
into about fifteen sections. But of many of these 
luckily it is unnecessary to speak in an article ad- 
dressed to the general reader. Here we shall mention 
only those sections which contain plants likely to 
interest the ordinary gardener; and, of these, the 
best known is the Aizoon section, in which are grouped 
all the rosette saxifrages, of which S. Aizoon is sup- 
posed to be the type. We say supposed, because 
nobody seems to know what exactly S. Aizoon is. 
Mr. Farrer says that he believes it to be a sort of 
Platonic idea, "represented only by innumerable 
varieties or partial manifestations of its sacred es- 
sence." When you see a rosette Saxifrage of ordinary 
size and do not know its name, you call it S. Aizoon, 
and no harm is done. For the fact is, the species is 
so variable and so liable to hybridize with other sim- 
ilar species, that it has lost its identity. Yet this 
may be said for certain about it, that it grows in sil- 
very rosettes of varying size, the largest about 3 in. 
across, and that from the centre of these rosettes it 
throws up sprays of little flowers white or a pale yellow 



SAXIFRAGES 297 

and usually more or less spotted with pink. It is a 
true rock plant and, though easy to grow in any open, 
well-drained place, looks its best only among the 
rocks. It likes the sun, but not extremes of drought 
and heat. It thrives best in a light, fairly rich soil, 
with plenty of lime in it, and when it is planted on a 
steep bank so that its roots can run under the rocks. 
It will do well on the north side of an open rockery, 
but grows leggy and blossoms poorly in shade. These 
remarks apply to nearly all the saxifrages of this sec- 
tion and to many others. There are few that like 
either drought or complete shade; and very many 
need lime if they are to flower profusely. 

It would be impossible even to mention all the 
varieties of S. Aizoon. There is a pretty yellow variety 
and a beautiful pink one, still new in commerce. There 
is a very small variety called minima. There is crus- 
tata, a name given to many different varieties. There 
is elongata, and so on. S. lingulata is usually con- 
sidered a species. It has large white flowers, varies 
much from seed, and has hybridized with S. Aizoon. 
S. Lantoscana is a variety of it; and sometimes one 
sees very splendid forms called Lantoscana superba, 
but nurserymen are apt to call any variety of lingu- 
lata by this name. The two finest species of this 
section are S. cotyledon and S. longifolia. Both have 
very large rosettes and sprays of flowers often a couple 
of feet high. S. cotyledon will grow in any sunny 
place not too hot. The flowers of the true species 
are, we believe, unspotted; but there are spotted 



298 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

varieties. S. pyramidalis is only a variety and not 
a very distinct one. There are other varieties that 
need not be specified. S. cotyledon does not need 
lime, and some of its varieties seem to dislike it. It 
is very easy to grow, but deserves a good place and 
rich, light soil, as then it spreads into great patches 
and blooms profusely. It can be quickly increased 
by means of offsets, and differs in this from the even 
finer S. longifolia, the giant saxifrage of the Pyrenees. 
This dies as soon as it has flowered, but it often takes 
some years to flower, and is worth growing both for 
the beauty of the plant and for its short-lived glory 
of bloom. It likes a cooler place than S. cotyledon, 
and does very well on the north side of a sunny rock 
garden in deep pockets between the rocks filled with 
a rich, light, limy soil. It can be easily raised from 
seed, like all the Aizoon saxifrages, but hybridizes 
so profusely that one can never be sure of getting the 
pure species. Hybrids, however, are often beautiful 
and interesting, and some of them make offsets be- 
sides growing as large as the species itself. S. coty- 
ledon also hybridizes with other species, though less 
freely, and a hybrid between it and one of the Aizoons 
is called S. McNabiana. This is a splendid plant, but 
difficult to get true. The true form, we believe, has 
pink spots all over the flower. S. cochlearis is a species 
with rather small rosettes, and not certainly in the 
Aizoon section. S. valdensis is usually considered a 
variety of it, and is a beautiful little plant, easily 
grown in limy soil and a cool place among the rocks. 



SAXIFRAGES 299 

The section which contains the rarest, most beau- 
tiful, and most delicate of the saxifrages is known as 
the Kabschia section. The saxifrages included under 
it nearly all want some care and are all mountaineers. 
They should be grown among large rocks that are 
sunk deep into the soil, and must have perfect drain- 
age and be quite free from any drip. The chief dif- 
ficulty in their cultivation is to provide them with a 
place that is dry enough in winter and cool enough 
in summer. In a sunny rockery they do best, as a 
rule, with a west or northwest aspect. On the south 
side they are apt to be burnt up by the sun. Their 
soil should be composed of light loam, silver sand, 
leaf mould, and mortar rubble or pieces of limestone, 
and the surface should be covered with rubble or 
limestone. They should also be placed so that their 
roots can run under a large stone. This sounds a 
formidable list of directions; but many of the Kab- 
schia saxifrages are worth any amount of trouble; 
and any one who has seen a fine clump of S. burseriana 
would be ready to take it. It grows in minute silvery 
tufts, and from these in March rise flowers large for 
the size of the plant and like delicate little white 
roses. There is no more beautiful spring flower in 
the world; and it is not really difficult to grow, with 
a little care. Burseriana major is a finer variety; and 
there is one called Gloria, not yet in commerce, and 
said to surpass all other forms. The easiest and most 
useful of all these saxifrages is S. apiculata, a vigorous 
plant which makes large tufts of deep shining green. 



300 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

and has pale yellow flowers In March. This needs 
no particular care. It likes lime, a cool, well-drained 
place, and a light deep soil. If it ceases to bloom it 
should be divided in early autumn. It is a most 
valuable spring plant. S. Elizabethae is like a smaller 
and more delicate apiculata. It should be grown like 
burseriana, but is easier and more vigorous, in spite 
of its delicate beauty. S. Salomonii appears to be a 
hybrid of burseriana; it has the same beautiful white 
flowers on rather longer stalks. It is as easy as S. 
Elizabethae. S. Boydii is another hybrid, very small 
and very slow-growing, a plant for experts. Its white 
variety, however, is easier and quicker growing. It 
is also much cheaper. S. Griesbachii is remarkable for 
its crimson flowers, and quite easy to grow, with a 
little care. S. caesia is a minute rosette saxifrage, 
a pretty little plant which must have lime and a fairly 
cool place, though it is less impatient of heat than 
some of the Kabschia saxifrages. S. squarrosa is 
even smaller, and grows higher in the mountains. It 
requires the same culture as S. caesia, but rather 
more care. These are plants only for those who care 
for minute beauty. There are many other species 
and varieties in this section, some very beautiful, 
but most of them rare and little grown as yet by ordi- 
nary gardeners. 

The mossy saxifrages of the dactyloides section, on 
the other hand, are nearly all very easy to grow, 
and most of them common in gardens. Dovedale 
Moss (S. hypnoides) is the best known of them and 



SAXIFRAGES 301 

a native common in Derbyshire and some other coun- 
ties. There is great uncertainty about the names of 
many of the mossy saxifrages. The finest of the com- 
moner white ones is S. Camposii (or Wallacei), a most 
beautiful plant with large shining white flowers in 
early summer. S. muscoides is a close-growing species, 
and the variety atro-purpurea is better still. S. 
Rhei is, perhaps, a variety of S. caespitosa. It has 
delicate pink flowers and a close habit. Guildford 
Seedling is a splendid variety of this, with deep crim- 
son flowers. There are some other varieties of Rhei, 
but not differmg much from the type. S. pedemon- 
tana, at least the plant usually sold under that name, 
is a quick-growing, vigorous species with flowers of 
a less bright white than those of S. Camposii, but still 
very pretty. Other good species of this section are 
cuneata, ajugaefolia, and exarata. All the mossy 
saxifrages like a cool place, and they are excellent 
plants for the lower parts and the north side of the 
rock garden. They do not need rock work, but look 
their best on it. They like a light soil rich in humus. S. 
Camposii is more impatient of drought than the rest, 
and is apt to wdther up in hot sun, while in too deep 
shade it grows leggy. When this happens it should 
be taken up and replanted deeper. There have lately 
been obtained a number of hybrids between mossy 
saxifrages and the meadow saxifrage (S. granulata), 
which is so abundant in damp meadows in some parts 
of the country. These hybrids are generally known 
as S. decipiens, and some of them are well worth grow- 



302 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

ing. There is also a double form of S. granulata, a 
pretty plant, but not so pretty as the wild species. 
S. tenella belongs to a different section from the mossy 
saxifrages, but it looks even more mossy than they 
do, and is a charming plant for a cool place on rock- 
work. It is impatient of hot sun. 

The most brilliant flowered of all the saxifrages is 
S. oppositifolia. It grows on English, Scotch, and 
Welsh mountains, and produces bright crimson-ma- 
genta flowers in March. There is no spring flower more 
beautiful or surprising. It is quite easily grown, and 
yet many gardeners fail with it. It should be planted 
in an open yet cool place on the north side of the rock 
garden, and in poor soil mixed with mortar rubble. 
If the soil is too rich it gets leggy and refuses to flower. 
It benefits by a top dressing in spring of sand and 
leaf-mould, and if it gets rusty it should be taken up 
and replanted in fresh soil in early autumn. There 
are several varieties, including a white one, which is 
not of much value. 

Saxif raga Fortunei is a fine species from Japan which 
flowers in autumn. There is some doubt about its 
hardiness, and it should be grown in a well-drained 
and sheltered, but fairly cool, position in the rock 
garden, with some protection in hard frosts. Most 
of the larger saxifrages belong to the Bergenia or 
Megasea section. S. cordifolia and S. crassifolia, both 
often called S. megasea, are the best known. They 
are border plants with pretty pink flowers, but the 
leaves usually look rather dingy. To flower well. 



SAXIFRAGES 303 

they require a fairly sunny place and a good rich soil. 
S. ligulata and its variety S. ciliata are better suited 
for bold rock-work, and look well among plants such 
as Corydalis nobilis. S. Stracheyi is the prettiest 
species of the section, with delicate pink flowers early 
in March or April. It sometimes dies in very hard 
winters and should be given a fairly cool, sheltered 
position among the rocks. The variety Afghanica 
has white flowers and is a beautiful plant not often 
seen. 

We have mentioned but a few of the innumerable 
species and varieties of the saxifrage. The gardener 
who begins to collect saxifrages will never come to 
the end of them, and he will be wise always to see less 
known species and varieties before he buys them. If 
he does not, he will probably acquire many common 
or nondescript plants with romantic names. The 
anarchy among saxifrages is such that nothing could 
put an end to it except the appointment of a Dictator 
and an Act making it a criminal offence to call any 
saxifrage by any name except the one given to it by 
him. But even then in a few years there would be 
a number of new hybrids and as much confusion 
among them as ever. 



THE FIFTY BEST HARDY PERENNIALS 

EVERY one likes to make anthologies, for no one 
is satisfied with the anthologies of others; and 
in making them there is a pleasure both of inclusion 
and exclusion. There are some things unjustly ig- 
nored by other anthologists, and others unduly prized 
by them. There is no lover of poetry that would not 
like to work some changes upon the Golden Treasury; 
but it is far easier to make a figurative anthology of 
poems than a real one of flowers. In the first place, 
you can produce your poems to justify your choice; 
but you can only produce the names of your flowers, 
and those who do not know them must take your 
judgment on trust. In the next, there are no garden 
varieties of poems. There is no Lycidas grandiflorus 
to oust the original and no Dropmore version of the 
Ode to the West Wind. No one dares to touch up 
a poem except the author of it. When he is dead the 
type of the poem is fixed. But with flowers it is other- 
wise. If, making an anthology of them, you speak of 
the Rose, you are asked at once, What Rose.^^ And 
what can you answer ? How can one be chosen among 
so many with such different merits and defects ? It is 
the same with Irises and Lilies and Larkspurs and 
Pseonies. It is impossible to satisfy even yourself 

with any one choice among them. And yet it is amus- 

304 



BEST HARDY PERENNIALS 305 

ing to try, and may amuse others. But even the at- 
tempt is possible only with strict and arbitrary limi- 
tations, which are difficult to define and still more 
difficult to keep. We will confine ourselves to fifty 
hardy perennial plants. We will have nothing to do 
with shrubs, thus avoiding roses, which could only 
be treated in an anthology to themselves. Then how 
about bulbs ? They, too, need an anthology to them- 
selves. So we will leave them all out except Lilies, 
which must be included because the Madonna Lily 
cannot be left out. We will also confine ourselves to 
border plants; and one of our chief tests shall be that 
a plant can be easily grown in the ordinary garden. 
This is to be an anthology for every one, not for the 
specialist; and when we say easily grown, we mean 
grown without fuss or constant renewal. Thus we 
get rid of Carnations, which also need an anthology 
to themselves. Our fifty best perennials must be 
hardy, easily grown, and true perennials, or at least 
perennial for some years. They must also, of course, 
be beautiful; and where there is a great choice of 
varieties we shall try to select one which excels in all 
the qualities of a border plant. But, having laid 
down these strict rules for our choice, we shall be 
tempted to break them in one or two cases, where a 
plant has such signal merits that it ought to be in 
every garden, although it has also defects that ought 
to exclude it from our anthology. We shall try to 
make that anthology classical rather than romantic, 
indulging in our own freaks of taste no more than we 



306 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

can help. But even so it is sure to seem freakish to 
some readers; and if it does they will have the pleasure 
of disagreeing with it. 

We will begin with Larkspurs, one of our chief dif- 
ficulties. The florists are always raising new varieties 
of these, but many of them are not pure blue, and 
surely the glory of a Larkspur is in its blueness. In 
this Delphinium Belladonna has never been surpassed. 
It is not quite so robust as some varieties nor so tall 
growing, but will do well enough in most sunny well- 
drained borders; and it flowers longer than any Lark- 
spur. Persimmon is taller and larger flowered and a 
splendid variety, but it has not all the grace of Bella- 
donna. True Blue is a noble plant, a darker colour 
with a brown centre like a bee, but it has a doubtful 
constitution. Therefore we choose Belladonna for our 
Larkspur. It used never to ripen seed; but a seed- 
bearing variety has now been obtained from which 
it is said the seedlings come true. Several species of 
Lilies are thoroughly good garden plants. The chief 
of them, of course, is the Madonna, whose one defect 
is its disease. Plant it in August or September in 
a rooty place, but where it gets plenty of sun, and 
with the top of the bulb only about an inch under 
ground. In a poor soil give it a good dose of cow 
manure well under the bulb. Then never disturb it, 
and it will probably triumph over the disease, even 
in districts where the disease is rampant. Lilium 
testaceum must also come into our anthology. It is 
even easier to grow than the Madonna Lily, and 



BEST HARDY PERENNIALS 307 

needs the same culture, and where it thrives it in- 
creases at a great pace. It has apricot coloured flowers 
with bright red anthers, and grows taller than the 
Madonna Lily. It does not mind disturbance so much, 
and is almost as beautiful. It makes a magnificent 
contrast with the Belladonna Larkspur. These are 
the two chief garden lilies. Others are beautiful and 
easy, but not good enough to be among our fifty plants. 
Then there are Pseonies. Among these it is impossible 
to make a final choice, but there is none more beau- 
tiful, robust, and free-flowering than The Bride, a 
large, pure white single variety of Pseonia albiflora. 
Columbines are even more difficult to choose. Aquile- 
gia caerulea is not a true perennial in most gardens; 
A. glandulosa and the hybrid Stuartii are very capri- 
cious. The long-spurred hybrids are not fixed and 
have no names; but they are the Columbines for the 
ordinary gardener, and there is no flower in the gar- 
den to beat a fine blue and white hybrid of A. caerulea, 
with a thoroughly robust habit. 

The Dropmore variety of Anchusa italica must 
come in our anthology, although it will die out after 
a year or two if not propagated by ordinary or root 
cuttings. It is, however, the finest of all blue border 
plants, and cuttings are very easily struck. The new 
pale blue variety. Opal, is almost as beautiful. Among 
the Campanulas we have no hesitation in choosing 
C. persicifolia, variety grandiflora. This is a plant 
to be raised from seed. The seedlings will vary both 
in the colour and the size of their flowers. The best 



308 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

should be chosen and perpetuated. Platycodon grandi- 
florum is closely related to the Campanulas, and a 
valuable low-growing border plant. We choose its 
dwarf variety Mariesii, and with this should be grown 
(Enothera macrocarpa for the contrast both of their 
colour and growth. There are many fine CEnotheras, 
but this is the best perennial one for the ordinary 
garden. It can be very easily raised from seed, and 
flowers for a long time. There is no better plant for 
the front of the border. Centaurea montana is a 
humble plant and spreads like a weed; but it is very 
beautiful in its blue, white, and pink varieties, and 
has the great merit of growing anywhere and flowering 
early. If it were not so easy, it would be prized, and 
it deserves to be more prized for its easiness. An- 
other humble and slighted plant is Nepeta mussini, 
which has a peculiar modest beauty both of flower 
and growth, and will flourish anywhere. It is a most 
valuable plant to give some quietness and neatness 
to the front of a gay border. It combines beautifully 
with the giant Thrift, Armeria cephalotes, another 
plant of the highest merit and too little seen in gar- 
dens. There is a richly coloured variety of this called 
rubra, the deep pink flowers of which contrast well 
with the dark lavender of the Nepeta. With both of 
these may be associated the beautiful Polemonium 
reptans. All Polemoniums are fine plants, but this 
is the best, both in colour and in habit, and it is quite 
easy to grow. 

Erigeron speciosus is another plant often slighted 



BEST HARDY PERENNIALS 309 

because of its easiness, but it has many merits besides 
that and deserves a place in our anthology. It can 
be grown with the Oriental poppy for a fine bold con- 
trast, not with one of the sickly new varieties, but with 
some splendid deep scarlet form such as Goliath. 
The great defect of Oriental poppies is that they are 
untidy after they have flowered. Miss Jekyll advises 
that Gypsophila paniculata should be grown among 
them so as to cover their untidiness. This is a good 
idea, and Gypsophila, of course, comes into our an- 
thology except for gardens with very heavy soils. 
Gypsophila suggests a plant which is a perfect mate 
for it, but which ought not to be in our anthology at 
all. The hybrid Pentstemons are not hardy in win- 
ter or in cold gardens. But they are so easily raised 
from seed or cuttings, and they are so valuable, that 
every garden ought to contain them. But if we are 
not allowed to include them we must insist upon P. 
barbatus, which is hardy in most gardens, and partic- 
ularly upon its variety Torreyi, with its coral-red 
flowers. We must also insist upon Hollyhocks, which 
are not true perennials perhaps, but should be in 
every garden big enough for them. Raise them from 
seed, and, if possible, sow it where the plants are to 
remain, and then they will probably escape the dis- 
ease. It is difficult to choose among the Anemones, 
but for the ordinary border there is none to equal 
the ordinary white Anemone japonica. It is still 
more difficult to choose among Irises, but without 
further argument we name the variety of Iris pallida 



310 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

dalmatica called Princess Beatrice. At least there 
is no more beautiful garden flower in existence. Then 
there are the Violas or tufted Pansies; a choice is 
impossible among these. But there is nothing to beat 
Florizel for beauty and vigour, though there are 
others to equal it. We name it because one variety 
must be named; and if we are to choose a particular 
pink, we will have Albino for the beauty of its flowers, 
as fine as those of a white carnation. Of the Phloxes 
we scarcely dare name one. But there is none so bril- 
liant in colour as Coquelicot, though others have a 
better constitution. Among Michaelmas Daisies we 
choose Aster acris, but only for the sake of choosing 
one. It has this advantage over most, that it does 
not spread all over the border or need constant divi- 
sion if it is not to deteriorate; and there is none more 
beautiful. Among Funkias we have no hesitation in 
choosing F. Sieboldii for the beauty of its glaucous 
leaves; but the Day Lilies are much more difficult 
to choose. H. aurantiaca major is always said to be 
the finest, but it usually prefers not to flower. We 
prefer H. Thunbergii, which has a sweet scent and 
clear yellow flowers. The Kniphofias are no easier, 
but there is none to surpass K. caulescens either in 
flower or in leaf, and it is very easily increased. 

There are innumerable Veronicas, but none so bril- 
liant in the border as Veronica amethystina, the best 
variety of which has bright blue flowers. Among the 
Flaxes none remains so long in bloom as Linum perenne, 
although L. narbonnense has larger blossoms. Of the 



BEST HARDY PERENNIALS 311 

Yuccas Y. gloriosa is far the most splendid when in 
flower, but it flowers rarely. Y. filamentosa is a free 
bloomer and also a splendid plant. Scabiosa caucasica 
is not a true perennial always, but it will last for some 
years in most good, well-drained borders, and can 
be easily raised from seed. Its beauty should give 
it a place in any anthology. Of the Spiraeas we choose 
S. aruncus, an obvious but sound selection. The 
Meadow Rues are not showy plants, but they have 
a peculiar quiet beauty, and there is none so good as 
the purple-flowered variety of Thalietrum aquilegi- 
folium. The Cranesbills are a valuable family of 
plants. We are tempted by Geranium grandi- 
florum, but the most brilliant is the variety of G. 
ibericum called platypetalum. There are many gar- 
den varieties of Potentilla, but none flowers so long, 
has so delicate a colour, or is so ready to thrive any- 
where as Potentilla nepalensis. Few of the genus 
Coreopsis are true perennials, but C. lanceolata lives 
for a reasonable number of years. It is very like C. 
grandiflora, but rather smaller and more delicate in 
flower. 

The Goatsrues are excellent border plants, with 
a delicate beauty of flower which would be more 
valued if they were less easy to grow. There is a more 
compact form of Galega officinalis which is perhaps 
the best; Spiderwort is another homely but beauti- 
ful plant — Tradescantia virginica is its botanical 
name — and of many good varieties the white one 
has the most exquisite beauty. The Globe flowers 



Sn STUDIES IN GARDENING 

are all fine plants, only at their best in a rich moist 
soil. New varieties are now being produced every 
year, but none has finer flowers than the variety of 
Trollius asiaticus called Orange Globe. The Statices 
are also being continually improved, and some of the 
finer varieties of Statice latifolia are splendid plants. 
It varies much from seed. Therefore the plants 
should be seen, if possible, when in flower, and a good 
form chosen. Those who have space can easily raise 
it from seed and should keep only the seedlings with 
the finest flowers. 

Incarvillea Delavayi is still a new plant, and for 
some time after its introduction was supposed not 
to be hardy, or at least to need care and a special 
place in the rock garden. One reason for this, no 
doubt, was its appearance and the fact that it be- 
longs to a family in which are not many hardy plants. 
But though it looks as tender and foreign as a Glox- 
inia, it appears to be quite hardy in any light, good 
soil, and it is a splendid plant for the front of the 
border. 

There are some plants which, however beautiful 
they may be, are disliked by gardeners because they 
spread like Goutweed. One of the worst of these is 
Coronilla varia, and one cannot, in spite of its beauty, 
recommend it for any border whatever. The com- 
mon Rose-bay, Epilobium angustifolium, is almost 
as bad; but the white variety of this is so beautiful 
and so ready to thrive anywhere that it must be in- 
cluded in our anthology. But the gardener should 



BEST HARDY PERENNIALS 313 

beware of it, as it spreads by underground suckers, 
and these will come up 6 ft. away from the parent 
plant. Sidalcea is also a very spreading plant, but 
S. Listen, with delicate pink flovvers, is less trouble- 
some by far than S. Candida, and also prettier. The 
musk mallow (Malva moschata) is one of the most 
beautiful of our wild flowers, and well worth a place 
in any garden; but the white variety is still more 
beautiful and not so often seen in gardens as it de- 
serves. Of the St. John's Worts Hypericum Mose- 
rianum, a half shrubby species, is the best and a beau- 
tiful border plant. Most of the Erodiums are rock 
plants, but E. Manescavi should be in every garden, 
if only because it is one of the longest blooming of 
all hardy plants. It is not brilliant, but its flowers 
have a quiet and delicate beauty of their own. The 
most familiar Saxifrage, of course, is London Pride, 
but a finer plant altogether for the cool border is a 
variety of S. rotundifolia sold as S. Lasiophylla. This 
is probably not its true name, but it is the only one 
we know it by. It has much larger flowers than those 
of London Pride and also prettier leaves. It is a 
little knov\m plant, but of the highest value. Tiarella 
cordifolia is another beautiful plant of the same family 
for the front of the cool border, well known, but not 
so much grown as it deserves. We have mentioned 
fifty plants and there are dozens of others which we 
feel we have unjustly neglected. But some of them 
are a little difficult, like the beautiful Mertensia vir- 
ginica, which where it thrives makes an exquisite 



314 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

contrast with Tiarella; and some are not exactly to 
our taste. No doubt also there are obvious omis- 
sions in the anthology, due not to perversity, but to 
forgetfulness. But that anthology is not meant to 
be dogmatic. At the worst it can only be disagreed 
with. At the best it may make the reader more in 
love than ever with some old favourites, and intro- 
duce him to some new ones. 



THE FIFTY BEST ROCK PLANTS 

IT is not quite so difficult to make a choice of the 
fifty best rock plants as of the fifty best hardy 
perennials; but no list is likely to please any one very 
much except the maker of it; and even he will proba- 
bly see the faults of it soon after he has made it. One 
plant will seem the best of its kind to-day and another 
to-morrow. Besides, he is sure to forget some of his 
favourite plants. But still his list may contain some 
beautiful plants unknown to some of his readers, and 
it may confirm their liking for others. The list which 
follows does not pretend to be even the writer's final 
choice, but it w^ill contain only plants which he has 
thoroughly tested, and which he knows can be made 
to flourish without any great amount of skill. Some 
of them are quite easy, others not quite so easy; but 
none are inexplicably capricious, and none demand 
conditions which the ordinary well-made rock garden 
in the country cannot supply. They are chosen first 
for their beauty, next for their perfect fitness for the 
rock garden, and last for their comparative ease of 
culture. None of the larger shrubs suitable for the 
rock garden are included among them, and no bulbs. 
Some are not rock plants in their native countries, 
but all will look better and probably do better in the 
rock garden than anywhere else, 

315 



316 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

If the present writer were allowed to grow only 
one rock plant, he would without hesitation choose 
Lithospermum prostratum. It has only two faults 
— namely, that it will not endure lime in the soil 
and that it is not easy to propagate. Otherwise it is 
as perfect as a plant can be. It is a small shrub, quite 
prostrate in its growth, and for some months of spring 
and early summer covered with brilliant blue flowers, 
while it often bears again, though more sparsely, in 
the autumn. It is always described in books as quite 
easy to grow. Yet one often sees poor plants of it 
even in pretentious rock gardens. The reason is that 
gardeners often will not give it what it wants. Its 
wants are well knowTi, and, except on limy soils, easily 
supplied — but they must be supplied if it is to thrive. 
It will do well either on the north or the south side of 
the rock garden; but does not like too hot a place or 
too poor a soil. It roots very deeply, and should be 
planted in at least 2 ft. of good fibrous soil and leaf- 
mould, and placed so that its roots can run under a 
large rock. Also it should never be disturbed, and if 
possible it should be sheltered from easterly winds, 
which often damage it in winter and early spring. 
When it is well grown it spreads into a bush several 
feet across, and in flower is almost as brilliant as any 
gentian. It must be propagated by cuttings, which 
are sometimes difficult to strike. These are usually 
taken after it has flowered, and consist of fresh growth 
with a little of the old wood, but good healthy shoots 
taken in April will often root better. 



FIFTY BEST ROCK PLANTS 317 

An excellent contrast to the Lithospermum is 
Arenaria montana, which has large white flowers. 
But care must be taken that the Arenaria does not 
smother the Lithospermum, as it grows at a great 
pace. It will thrive anywhere except in deep shade or 
a bog, and few rock plants are more beautiful. It can 
be raised from seed almost as easily as mustard, or 
any shoot will root quickly. It is equally beautiful 
mixed with Saponaria ocymoides, another rampant 
plant, also of the Pink family, and with bright pink 
blossoms. This also should be raised from seed, and 
cut back whenever it gets leggy. A small shrub of 
the highest beauty and value is Daphne cneorum, 
especially the finer variety of it called majus. This, 
like the Lithospermum, has certain definite wants. 
It thrives best among rocks and in the same kind of 
soil as the Lithospermum. It must not have either 
too dry or too damp a place, but may be grown either 
on the south or the north side of a sunny open rock 
garden. There is some dispute as to whether it likes 
lime, but it will certainly thrive without it. It is 
difficult to increase except by layers, and these take 
some time to root. Whenever the shoots grow leggy 
they should be layered, and then the plant will spread 
and increase in vigour. It is beautiful at all times 
of the year, but the beauty and scent of its pink blos- 
soms are incomparable. It has the reputation of 
being capricious; but this is probably because it dis- 
likes disturbance, bad drainage, sour soil, and an ex- 
posed position. It should not be planted anywhere 



318 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

near the Lithospermum, but a good contrast to it is 
Saxifraga cotyledon, the most useful of all the rosette 
Saxifrages. There are several varieties of this, but 
they do not differ much. It can be easily raised from 
seed or increased by offsets, and flowers very freely. 
It likes a rich, light soil, and does not need lime. It 
should be given plenty of space, as each rosette will 
grow into large patches. There are, of course, in- 
numerable Saxifrages, and at least twenty of them 
might claim to be among the best fifty rock plants. 
We must include one more of these and we choose 
S. Burseriana major for its extreme beauty. It needs 
some care and should be grown in a cool, well-drained 
place, where it gets sun for about half the day. The 
soil should consist of fibrous loam, leaf-mould, and 
mortar rubble, and the plant should be surrounded 
with rubble or chips of rock. It is small and must 
be secluded from all rampant plants. There is the 
same difficulty with the Campanulas as with the 
Saxifrages. It is hard to make a choice among them. 
We choose the best variety of Campanula garganica, 
the name of which appears to be uncertain. It has 
pale starry blue flowers, is easily raised from seed, 
and thrives in any well-drained open place among 
rocks and in rich, light soil. There is no Campanula 
more beautiful either in flower or in habit. If a more 
vigorous Campanula is required, we must add C. 
muralis, especially its larger variety, Portenschlagiana. 
This will grow anywhere on the rock garden, and looks 
its best contrasted with Silene alpestris, an exquisite 



FIFTY BEST ROCK PLANTS 319 

but most vigorous plant, with flowers like those of 
a delicate little white pink. Both of these should 
be left undisturbed for some years after they are 
planted. The Silene does not like a very hot, dry 
place. For a contrast to C. garganica there is nothing 
to surpass Asperula hirta, a little woodruff with deli- 
cate pink flowers, that looks as if it would be diflBcult, 
but is almost as easy as Aubretia. But even more 
beautiful and worthy of the best position in the rock 
garden is Asperula athoa (or suberosa), a downy little 
plant with flowers like pink coral, which it bears all 
through the summer. This is not difficult, but should 
be planted in a dry fissure between the rocks in full 
sun and looking south, in a compost consisting mainly 
of mortar rubble with a little fibrous soil and leaf- 
mould. It is not a plant for a cold climate, but may 
be easily grown in the south of England, and can be 
increased by careful division in spring or by cuttings 
taken at the same time. It should also be planted 
in spring. Of all rock plants the Pinks are the most 
valuable genus, and if one species is to be chosen 
among them we choose Dianthus neglect us. It is 
not the easiest, but easier than D. alpinus or the 
wonderful D. callizonus; and it is perhaps the most 
beautiful of all. It can be easily raised from seed, 
but hybridizes too readily with other species. Some 
seedlings will probably be inferior, some true, and 
some may turn out splendid hybrids, finer even than 
the species. It is a small plant with grassy leaves 
and brilliant pink flowers washed with yellow on the 



320 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

underside of the petals. It thrives best in fissures 
between big rocks looking south and in poor, rubbly 
soil. It certainly likes lime. 

The Androsaces are a difficult family, but A. carnea 
is not so difficult as some, and very beautiful. It 
should be planted in a cool, well-drained position, as 
it can endure neither drought in summer nor stagnant 
moisture in winter. In a hot rock garden it will do 
best with a northwest aspect. The soil should con- 
sist of fibrous loam, silver sand, and leaf-mould. It 
grows best in a level pocket, if it is sharply drained, 
and cannot endure lime. It should be top-dressed 
with leaf-mould and silver sand in the spring. It 
can be raised from seed, if this is sown when fresh, 
and it often ripens seed in England. Near A. carnea 
may be grown the exquisite Oxalis enneaphylla, a 
much easier plant. This likes a rich, light, stony 
soil, and to be left alone when once planted. It bears 
milky white flowers, large for the size of the plant, 
in late spring, and dies down in the autumn. Another 
beautiful plant for a cool, well-drained place is Pole- 
monium confertum. This is rare, but can be easily 
raised from seed or increased by careful division in 
spring. It has delicate pale lavender blossoms, and 
is more beautiful even than its white variety, P. mel- 
litum. It likes a light soil enriched with leaf-mould. 

For the hottest places in the rock garden there are 
no plants better than the Aethionemas, and of these 
E. grandiflorum is the most brilliant in colour. It is 
hardy enough to endure most winters and can be 



FIFTY BEST ROCK PLANTS 321 

easily raised from seed, especially if sown when fresh 
or from cuttings taken in spring. All the Aethionemas 
like lime and a poor soil. Another excellent plant 
for the same kind of position is Onosma tauricum 
(Golden Drop). In a dry place and poor soil this 
grows to a considerable size, and flowers all the sum- 
mer. Its chief need is protection from stagnant mois- 
ture in the winter. It should be increased by cuttings 
taken either in April or the autumn. The cuttings 
must be kept as dry as possible, as they are apt to 
damp off. The Erodiums are all plants for dry places, 
except the beautiful little E. Reichardii, which is not 
very hardy. The best of them, perhaps, is E. gut- 
tatum, neat in habit and with delicate white spotted 
flowers. It is a very easy plant for sunny rock work 
and often ripens seed in England. Geranium argen- 
teum is the best of the Cranesbills for the rock garden, 
more beautiful than G. cinereum because of its silvery 
leaves. It should be planted in a deep crevice between 
rocks looking full south, and must be top-dressed or 
replanted if it grows out of the ground. It shares 
this habit with many of the Alpine primulas, among 
which it is difficult to make a choice. But certainly 
none is more easy or beautiful than the white Primula 
nivalis (the true name of which appears to be P. 
pubescens alba). This thrives in any cool place in 
light rich soil, which should be 2 ft. deep at least. 
All the Alpine primulas like to be surrounded with 
stones. 

Few Gentians are quite easy, and not long ago 



322 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

Gentiana verna was supposed to be almost impossible 
in England, chiefly because it was treated as a rock 
plant. It should be grown in a flat sunny basin where 
it will catch all the rain. If this is well drained it 
will not suffer from damp in the winter. The soil 
should be deep, half loam and half leaf -mould. It is 
best planted in early spring, and the most important 
point in its culture is to top-dress it with leaf-mould 
at intervals through the summer and to water it fre- 
quently in dry weather. The plants must be very firm 
in the soil, and it is well to tread on them whenever 
they seem to be at all loose. Strong plants should 
be obtained to start with, and these are best got from 
Ireland. With these precautions it is easy to grow 
where the air is pure, and there is no need to speak of 
its beauty. It should never be disturbed when estab- 
lished. 

The culture of Ramondia Pyrenaica is now fairly 
well understood. It is most splendid near a water- 
fall, but most gardeners cannot provide it with this. 
It will thrive, however, among rocks where it is placed 
so that the sun never strikes upon it, and is best planted 
so that the roots run horizontally into the ground. 
It likes a rich soil of loam, peat, and leaf-mould, though 
peat is not necessary, and is not averse to lime. 

Rosa alpina is the only rose suitable to the rock 
garden, and it is suitable only to large rock gardens. 
It grows rather more than a foot high and has bright 
pink flowers. It needs space, as it spreads by suckers 
and prefers a cool place and rich soil. It is very easily 



FIFTY BEST ROCK PLANTS 323 

grown. It varies a good deal in size, and pains should 
be taken to get the dwarfest variety. 

There are not many rock plants that flower In au- 
tumn, and one of the best of these, where there is 
space for it, is Polygonum vaccinifolium, a perfectly 
prostrate Knotweed with pink blossoms in September 
and October. It spreads rapidly, and its shoots root 
in the ground as they spread. It should be grown in 
poor soil and in an open position on the north side 
if it is to flower well. It can be readily increased by 
rooted shoots cut off and replanted in spring, but 
should not be disturbed when established. Other 
plants that will flower late in the year are Papaver 
alpinus and Linaria alpina. These often die after 
flowering, but if raised from seed in spring in a cold 
frame and planted out as soon as possible they will 
come into flower about July and continue to bloom 
till the frosts. They can also be sown where they 
are to bloom. They will flourish in any well-drained 
position not too dry and seed themselves profusely. 
Both are extremely beautiful. 

Few of the Pentstemons are true perennials, but 
P. glaber alpinus lasts as long as any, and is a true 
rock plant. It varies in colour, but the best varieties 
are a beautiful glass blue. It can be easily raised 
from seed or increased by cuttings. Of the Colum- 
bines, Aquilegia Pyrenaica is the dwarfest and a very 
beautiful plant. It is easy to grow in a cool well- 
drained place, but difficult to get. A. alpina is never 
seen in its true beauty in England. It seems to de- 



SU STUDIES IN GARDENING 

teriorate in cultivation. Of the low-growing spring 
Phloxes there are many varieties, but none so beauti- 
ful or compact as the white Phlox Nelsoni and the 
pink P. Vivid. These should be mixed among bold 
rocks and in a light rich soil. In damp or shady places 
they are apt to die off in winter. If they are top- 
dressed with leaf-mould the shoots will root, and this 
is the best way to increase them. 

There are several Alpine Ranunculi, but none more 
beautiful or vigorous than R. amplexicaulis, which 
likes a cool place and a soil of loam and leaf -mould. 
Of all the Violas, the new Viola gracilis from Greece 
seems the most valuable for the rock garden. It ap- 
pears to be hardy and vigorous and has bright but 
delicate purple flowers. It should be grown in a warm 
place and light, rich soil, at least until its capacity 
for standing our winters is better known. Among 
Veronicas we choose V. prostrata, among Potentillas, 
P. alba — both most beautiful plants not so often 
grown as they should be. P. alba flowers for six months 
of the year, and will grow almost anywhere. In a 
large rock garden space should be found for Nierem- 
bergia rivularis, which in England thrives best in a 
flat, sunny, well-drained place and should be top- 
dressed with leaf-mould when it starts into growth 
in spring. It increases at a great pace, and flowers 
for a long time. Dryas octopetala also needs a large 
space, and flowers most freely in full sun when it is 
protected from drought by large rocks. It likes a 
strong dose of lime in the soil. There are many good 



FIFTY BEST ROCK PLANTS 325 

Achilleas for the rock garden, all liking a dry, sunny 
situation, but the best is A. argentea (rightly called 
Tanacetum argenteum). This is beautiful both for 
its silvery foliage and for its pure white flowers. There 
is no better plant for the top of the rock garden, and 
it may be mixed with the Aethionemas. 

Few of the dwarf Hypericums are quite hardy; but 
H. reptans will survive most winters if planted in a 
warm place where its roots are protected by large 
rocks, and it is the most beautiful when in flower. 
It likes a rich, light soil, and may be increased by 
cuttings taken in spring. Near it may be grown 
Edraianthus serpyllifolius, a little bell flower of a 
brilliant purple colour, not at all difficult to grow in 
fissures of the rocks and in light, rubbly soil. This 
is also best increased by cuttings taken in spring. 
One of the earliest of all spring flowers is Iberis saxa- 
tilis, the smallest of the Candytufts, and not always 
easy to obtain true. It likes a limy soil and a fissure 
between rocks looking full south. It is quite pros- 
trate, and the largest plants are only a few inches 
across. House-leeks are innumerable in variety, but 
the best for the rock garden is Sempervivum arach- 
noideum and its larger variety S. laggeri. These are 
quite easy in any high and dry sunny place. They 
like a fissure where they can spread out over the face 
of the rocks. 

All the plants mentioned in this list are only sug- 
gestions, and could be matched with other plants as 
beautiful. The writer chooses them because he has 



326 STUDIES IN GARDENING 

tried them all and knows their beauty and that they 
can be grown with a moderate amount of skill and 
pains. He could make another list almost as much 
to his taste — and perhaps more to the taste of others. 
There are now too many rock plants, and the be- 
ginner is apt to be bewildered among them. But if 
he stocks his rock garden with the plants we have 
mentioned, he will have nothing worthless and noth- 
ing that he need despair of growing. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



ACiENA MiCROPHTLLA, 218 

Acantholimons, 50 

Achillea, 10; argentea, 325; huteri, 
176; rupestris, 176 

Acis autumnalis, 182 

Aethionema, culture, 50, 56; as rock 
plants, 320, 321; coridifolium, 11, 
73; grandiflorum, 11, 320; pul- 
chellum, 11, 73 

Afghanica, 75 

Ageratum, 172 

Allium, 79; neapolitanum, 79 

Alpine flowers, associations, 262; 
lack of perfume, 262 

Alpine plants, use of term, 48; cul- 
ture, 48-59; hardiness, 49; leaf- 
mould for, 73, 74; raising from 
seed, 57, 58; soil for, 58, 59; top- 
dressing, 53 

Alstroemeria, 32, 278 

Alyssum maritimum, 181; saxatile, 
9,176; saxatile citrinum, 9; saxa- 
tile compactum, 219 

Amaryllis belladonna, 268 

Anchusa italica, 278; Dropmore 
variety, 307; Opal variety, 307 

Androsace, as rock plants, 178, 320 
camea, 54, 73, 320; ciliata, 54 
coronopifolia, 73; lactea, 73 
lanuginosa, 178; vema, 74; vil- 
losa, 54; vitaliana, 54 

Anemone, time for planting, 271; 
treated like bulbs, 272; raising 
from seed, 278; alpina, 217; co- 
ronaria, 32, 271, 278; fulgens, 32, 
271, 278; hortensis, 271; japo- 
nica, 32, 309; stellata, 271; sul- 
phurea, 217; verna, 217 

Angels' tears, name, 21 



Annuals, culture, 165-173; suitable 
soil for, 34; use as a stop-gap, 165, 
173; autumn sowing of, 168-170; 
best sown in spring, 170, 171; half- 
hardy, 171, 172; in rock garden, 
181, 182 

Anomatheca, 267; cruenta, 182 

Antirrhinum asarina, 20, 50, 179, 
180; majus, 20 

Aplopappus Brandegel, 178 

Apple trees, 245 

April garden notes, 70-80 

Aquilegia, name, 20; alpina, 66, 
323; caerulea, 63, 64, 307; cali- 
fornica, 64; canadensis, 64; chry- 
santha, 64; glandulosa, 64-66, 
157, 158, 307; Jaeschkanii, 64; 
pyrenaica, 55, 67, 216, 323; Skin- 
neri, 64; Stuartii, 66, 157, 158, 
307; vulgaris, 60, 62, 63; Witt- 
manniana, 66 

Arabis, for banks, 9; 97 

Arenaria Balearica, 218; montana, 
9, 21, 214, 317; tetraquetra, 176, 
219 

Armeria caespitosa, 50; cephalotes, 
308; laucheana, 10; maritima, 
10; rubra, 308 

Artemisia argentea, 175; sericea, 12, 
175 

Asperula athoa, 319; hirta, 214, 319 

Aster acris, 310 

Astragalus hypoglottis, 10 

Atragene alpina, 55, 216 

Atropa belladonna, 248 

Aubrietia, 219; suitability for banks, 
9; in borders, 29; raising from 
seed, 75, 76 

Auriculas, 156, 280 



S30 



INDEX 



Azaleas, 27, 120, 239, 244, 259; cut- 
ting back, 160 

Bacon, Lord, on perfume of flowers, 
261 

Banks, 1-14; in garden design, 154, 
155; neglect of, 1-6; suitable 
plants for, 7-14; arrangement of 
plants on, 14; use of rocks, 7 

Bartonia aurea, 169 

Begonias, 100 

Bellis caerulescens, 179; perennis, 15 

Berberis Darwinii, 242; dulcis nana, 
175; stenophylla, 242 

Bergamot, 32 

Biennials, soil for, 34 

Bleeding Heart, name, 19 

Bluebells, 250, 260 

Borago laxiflora, 218 

Borders, 28-30, 183-191 

Broom, for banks, 12 

Bulbs, treatment of, 192-200; suit- 
ability for banks, 11; suitable soil 
for, 31; in the grass, 79, 80; prop- 
agation, 110-112; cheap. 111, 
112; use of manure on, 117, 118, 
265; removal of, 122; use in her- 
baceous border, 191; regimental 
arrangement condemned, 193- 
195; carpeting with other plants, 
194; varieties for spring planting, 
264-272 

Buttercup, name, 15 

Calandbinta Umbellata, for 
banks, 11; culture, 179, 180 

Calceolaria, associations, 246-248 

Callirhoe involucrata, for banks, 11 

Camassias, 195 

Campanula, culture, 32, 36-47, 50; on 
northern slopes, 214; raising from 
seed, 278; wild nature of, 291; 
abietina, 45; alliarisefolia, 39; AlU- 
oni, 46; barbata, 42; Burghalti, 39; 
caespitosa, 42, 43, 179, 181, 214; 



canterbury-bell, 37; carpatica, 
41, 181, 214, 278; cenisia, 46; 
Elatines, 46; excisa, 46; Fergus- 
sonii, 40; fragilis, 45, 46; gar- 
ganica, 44, 45, 214, 318; glome- 
rata, 40; gi-andiflora, 38; gran- 
dis, 278; haylodgensis, 44; Hen- 
dersonii, 40; Hostii, 40; isophylla, 
45, 46; lactiflora, 39, 278; lanata, 
46; latifolia, 38, 39; latifolia 
pyramidalis, 278; latiloba, 38; 
medium, 37; mirabilis, 41; mura- 
lis, 43, 214, 318; persicifolia, 38, 
98, 278, 307; Portenschlagiana, 
318; pulla, 43, 44, 56, 214; pu- 
mila, 179, 214; punctata, 40; pu- 
silla, 42; pyramidalis, 39; rhom- 
boidalis, 41, 278; rotundifoha, 40, 
41; Scheuzeri, 214; soldanel- 
loides, 41; Tommasiniana, 44, 
214; turbinata, 41, 214; urtici- 
folia, 40; van Houttei, 39; Wald- 
steiniana, 45; Wilsoni, 44; Zoyzii, 
46 

Candytuft, 175, 325 

Canterbury-bell, 37 

Cardinal's flower, name, 23 

Carnation, 81; name, 18, 19, 23; in 
borders, 29 

Caryophyllus, 17-19 

Catmint, 198 

Centaurea montana, 308 

Chamaedrioides, 55 

Chamaelirion carolinianum, 217 

Cheddar pink, 8, 84 

Chionodoxa, 70, 79, 198, 199; name, 
16; planting, 12, 31 

Christmas roses, 32 

Cinders, use, 27 

Cistus, 175; cutting back, 159; 
cyprius, 188; florentinus, 13; 
formosus, 13; lusitanicus, 13 

Clematis, 55; Alpine, 216; clam- 
mula, 22 

Clipping, its limitations, 141-143 

Codonopsis ovata, 219 



INDEX 



331 



Colchicums, 182, 199 

CoUomia coccinea, 169 

Colour arrangement of flowers, 168 

Columbine, name, 20; culture, 60- 
69, 323; in stiff soil, 32; in bor- 
ders, 68; division of, 68; hybridi- 
zation of, 61-67; raising from 
seed, 277, 278; renewing from 
seed, 67, 68; varieties, see under 
Aquilegia 

Coreopsis, 32; grandiflora, 311; lan- 
ceolata, 311 

Cornflowers, 169, 170 

Coronilla cappadocica, 10; varia, 
312 

Corydalis nobilis, 303 

Cotoneaster, name, 22; congesta, 
175; thymifolia, 175 

Cottage gardens, 201, 202, 205-209 

Cranesbills, 32, 291, 311, 321 

Crinum capense, 268; longifolium, 
268; Moorei, 268; Powelli, 268 

Crocosma aurea, 271 

Crocus, 171, 198, 199; for banks, 12; 
planting, 31; pulchellus, 182, 199; 
speciosus, 182, 199; zonatus, 182, 
199 

Crown Imperial, 80, 195 

Cyclamen, 32, 182, 218 

Cypripedium spectabile, 119 

Cytisus, varieties, 13; Ardoini, 12; 
Kewensis, 12; prsecox, 243, 244; 
Schipkaensis, 12, 13 

Daffodil, 70, 72, 100, 111; associa- 
tions, 250; in borders, 28; 
names, 24; planting, 31, 33; pal- 
lidus prsecox, 78; Princeps, 78; 
Queen of Spain, 78, 79; Sea, 270; 
Tenby, 78; Trumpet, 33 

Dahlia, name, 17 

Daisy, 98; dividing, 157 

Daphne Blagayana, 55; cneorum, 
317; majus, 317 

Datura, 16 

Day Lily, 32, 310 



Deadly nightshade, its associations, 

248, 249 
Delphinium, name, 20; belladonna, 

277, 306; cardinale, 277; formo- 

sum, 277; grandiflorum, 277; nu- 

dicaule, 277 
Designing, garden, 139-155, 233, 

234 
Dianthus, alpestris, 86; alpinus, 54, 

74, 89, 319; arenarius, 8, 85; 

atrorubens, 87; ceesius, 8, 84; 

callizonus, 54, 90, 319; carthusi- 

anorum, 87; caryophyllus, 18; 

cinnabarinus, 87; cruentus, 87; 

deltoides, 8, 84, 85; fragrans, 8, 

85; freynii, 50, 90; gallicus, 86; 

giganteus, 87; glacialis, 88, 90; 

Heddewigii, 82, 172; Knappii. 87; 

monspessulanus, 8, 85; neglectus, 

50, 88, 319; noeanus, 86, 176; 

petraeus, 8, 85; plumarius, 8, 83, 

84, 86; sinensis, 82; squarrosus, 

90; suavis, 86; superbus, 86, 219; 

sylvestris, 86 
Dicentra, 19; spectabilis, 32 
Dodecatheons, 217 
Doronicum, 32 
Dorothy Perkins, 244 
Doubling flowers, 97-99 
Douglasia, 54 
Dovedale Moss, 300 
Draba, 176; aizoides, 215; Aizoon, 

215; brunisefolia, 215; Mawii, 54; 

pyrenaica, 54 
Drainage, use of, in stiff soil, 25-29 
Drought, protection from, 53-57 
Dryas octopetala, 215, 324 
Dutch gardens, 153, 154 

ECHEVERIAS, 248 

Edraianthus, 50; serpyllifolius, 325 

Epilobium angustifolium, 312 

Eremuri, 119 

Erigeron speciosus, 198, 308 

Erinus alpinus, 219 

Eritrichium nanum, 53 



332 



INDEX 



Erodium chrysantlium, 50; gutta- 
tum, 50, 321; macradenium, 177; 
Manescavi, 313; Reichardii, 55, 
177, 321 

Eryngiums, 198 

Eschscholtzia, name, 17, 169, 170 

Eurybria gunniana, 13 

Evergreens, cutting back, 158, 159 

Fairy Forget-me-not, 53 

Farrer, Mr. Reginald, "My Rock 
Garden," 295, 296 

Flowers, anthologies of, 304; artifi- 
cial development, 92-101, 286; 
associations, 246-263; beauty, 
283-292; characteristics artificial 
and natural, 287; decorative use 
of, 251-253; doubling, 97; effect 
of surroundings, 288, 291, 292; 
improvement, 92-101; Japanese, 
255-260; names, English and bo- 
tanical, 15-24; perfume and its 
associations, 260-262 

Foam Flower, 22 

Foord's "Decorative Flower Stud- 
ies," 252 

Forget-me-not, 77, 196; name, 21; 
soil, 32 

Forsythia, 4 

Foxglove, 32 

Fritillaria imperialis, 80; meleagris, 
79, 80 

Fuchsia, name, 17, 18 

Funkia, 32, 259; Sieboldii, 310 

Galega, 197; oflBcinalis, 311 

Galtonias, 196, 198, 267 

Gardeners, characteristics and rela- 
tions with employers, 220-228 

Gardening, artificial character, 117; 
cheap methods, 102-112; Eng- 
lish ideals, 201-210; experiments, 
their necessity, 114; foreign ideals, 
201-204; landscape, 4, 147, 229- 
233; pleasure, 148 



Gardens, cottage, 201, 202, 205-209; 

designing, 139-155, 233, 234; 

Dutch, 153, 154; formal, 140, 141, 

232-236; wild, 292 
Genista, pilosa, 13, 175; tinctoria, 

12, 13, 97, 175 
Gentiana, as rock plants, 321, 322; 

acaulis, 80, 122; verna, 51, 52, 74, 

122, 322 
Gentianella, seed of, 280 
Gentians, seed of, 280 
Geranium, 321; associations, 246- 

248; as rock plant, 321; argen- 

teum, 50, 179, 321; cinereum, 50, 

321; grandiflorum, 311; ibericum, 

311 ; platypetalum, 311 ; subcaules- 

cens, 179 
Gillyflower, name, 17-19 
Gladiolus, 195-197; culture, 264- 

267; Brenchleyensis, 266; Child- 

sii, 266; gandavensis, 266; Le- 

moinei, 266; nanceianus, 266; 

Princeps, 266; Saundersii, 266 
Globeflowers, 311, 312 
Globularia cordifolia, 219; nana, 54 
Goatsrue, 197, 311 
Golden Drop, 321 
Goldilocks, name, 23 
Gorse, 4 

Grape Hyacinth, 79 
Gypsophila, 197; paniculata, 309; 

repens, 9, 219; repens monstro- 

sum, 9 

Harebell, English, 37, 40-42 

Hawthorn, 240; use on lawn, 245; 
in shrubbery, 243 

Helianthemum, for banks, 10; cro- 
ceum, 10; formosum, 175 

Helichrysum, 23 

Hemerocallis, 32; aurantiaca ma- 
jor, 310; Thunbergii, 310 

Henbane, associations, 248, 249 

Herbaceous, borders, 28-30, 183- 
191; plants, cutting back, 162, 
163 



INDEX 



Hollyhocks, 107, 108, 309; planting 

of, 32 
Honeysuckle, name, 15 
House-leeks, 325 
Houses, relationship of gardens to, 

229-236 
Humus, use, 27, 28 
Hutchinsia alpina, 219 
Hyacinth, 248; arrangement of, 194, 

195; Cape, 267 
Hypericum coris, 50; Moserianum, 

313; repens, 50; reptans, 50, 325 

Iberis CoRREiEFOLiA, 175; saxatilis, 
50, 325; sempervirens, 175, 219 

Incarvillea Delavayi, 15, 253, 312 

lonopsidium acaule, 181 

Iris, 70. Ill, 122, 195, 196, 244; 
beauty of, 289; English, 111; 
florentina, 246; German, 30, 32, 
122, 244, 289; orchioides, 72; 
palUda dalmatica, 309; sindja- 
rensis, 72; Spanish, 111, 195, 196; 
tingitana, 264; Willmottiana, 72 

Ivy, overgrowth deprecated, 140 

Japanese flowers and Japanese art, 

255-260 
Judas trees, 245 
Juniper, 175 

Kaffir Lily, 267 

Kalmias, 27 

Kniphofia caulescens, 310 

Laburnum, 240 

Lady's Laces, name, 23 

Landscape-gardening, origin, 229- 
233; unhomeliness, 147; misap- 
plication of principles, 4 

Lapeyrousia cruenta, 267 

Larkspur, 99; cutting back, 163; 
planting, 29; raising from seed, 
277; soil for, 32; Persimmon, 306; 
True Blue, 306 



Laurels, clipping deprecated, 6 

Lavatera trimestris, 198 

Lavender, 175, 187, 188, 196, 197; 

for banks, 13; use in shrubbery, 

243, 244 
Lawns, use of shrubs, 244, 245 
Lilacs, 244 
Liliura auratum, 118, 128, 129, 136, 

137, 258, 291; Batemanniae, 131; 

Brownii, 128, 136; Canadense, 

134, 135; candidum, 128-130; 

Chalcedonicum, 32, 118, 128, 132, 

133, 197; concolor, 137; coridion, 
137; croceum, 118. 128, 131, 198; 
Dalmaticum, 132; Davuricum, 
131; elegans, 32, 128, 131. 198; 
giganteum, 128, 129, 135; Grayi, 
135; Hansoni, 128, 129, 131; 
Henryi, 128, 135; Humboldtii, 
138; Kraetzeri, 136; Krameri, 
126, 128, 137; Leichtlini, 128, 129, 
138; longiflorum, 128, 137; mari- 
timum, 138; Martagon, 32, 128, 
132; pardalinum, 118, 134, 135; 
Parry i, 138; perenne, 198; Phila- 
delphicum, 126, 138; pomponiura, 
128, 133, 197; Pyrenaicum, 32, 

132, 133; rubellum, 137; specio- 
sum, 118, 128, 129, 136, 137; 
splendens, 131; superbum, 118, 

134, 135; Szovitzianum, 118, 127, 

133, 134; Takesima, 137; tenui- 
folium, 138; testaceum, 118, 128, 
130, 306; tigrinum, 118, 128, 
131; umbellatum 32; Washing- 
tonianum, 126, 138 

Lily, culture, 112, 118, 127, 195- 
198; name, 20; raising from seed, 
126,127; association with shrubs, 
196, 197; treatment, 125-138, 
306, 307; use of manure, 118; 
varieties for spring planting, 267; 
Crown Imperial, 195; Day, 32, 
310; Orange, 32, 197; Tiger, 32, 
198 

Lily of the Valley, in stiff soil, 32 



S34 



INDEX 



Linaria alpina, 179-181, 219, 323; 
cymbalaria, 218; hepaticifolia, 
218; Maroccana, 169 

Linum narbonnense, 310; perenne, 
310 

Lithospermum prostratum, 176; cul- 
ture, 316; protection from wind, 
71, 213 

Lobelia, 181; associations, 247, 248; 
cardinalis, 23 

London Pride, 293, 294, 313 

Lonicera, 15 

Love-in-a-Mist, 169; name, 19 

Lupins, 32 

Lychnis lagascae, 50, 179 

Madonna Lily, 122, 196, 197; as- 
sociations, 251; culture, 118, 129, 
130, 306; suitable soil for, 32 

Magnolias, 259 

Maianthemum bifolium, 22 

Maiden pink, 84 

Malva moschata, 313 

Mandrake, legendary associations, 
249, 250 

Manure, use, 28, 117-120, 163 

Margyricarpus setosus, 218 

Mawson, Mr. T. H., "Art and Craft 
of Garden Making" noticed, 139, 
147, 150, 231 

Meadow Rue, 32, 311 

Mertensia virginica, 313 

Michaelmas Daisy, 32, 110, 123, 278, 
310 

Mignonette, 260 

Milla biflora, 271 

Mimulus, 32 

Montbretias, 267, 271 

Morisia hypogaea, 55, 157, 215 

Mountain Sandwort, 21 

Muscaris, 198, 199 

Musk mallow, 313 

Myosotis dissitiflora, 77; rupicola, 54 

Narcissus, 111; cyclamineus, 72, 
218; lobularis, 72; marinus, 270; 



minimus, 72, 218; minor, 72; 

nanus, 72, 218; pheasant-eye, 33, 

250; poeticus, 33; triandrus albus, 

21, 72, 218 
Nemesia, 172 
Nemophila, 169-171 
Nepeta mussini, 198, 308 
Nerines, culture, 270 
Nierembergia rivularis, 268, 324; 
' culture, 116, 177 

(Enothera Macrocarpa, 279, 308; 
marginata, 178; taraxacifolia, 178 

Olearia stellata, 13 

Omphalodes luciliae, 54 

Onosma tauricum, 321 

Orange Globe, 312 

Orange Lily, 32, 197 

Oriental poppies, 309 

Ornithogalum Arabicum, 270; nu- 
tans, 79; pyramidale, 79; um- 
bellatum, 79 

Oxalis enneaphylla, 320 

PiEONiA Albiflora, 307 

Peeonies, in stiff clay, 30, 31; The 
Bride, 307 

Pancratium maritimum, 270; II- 
lyricum, 270 

Pansy, 77; cutting back, 159; in 
herbaceous border, 190; in stiff 
soil, 31, 32; tufted, 99, 218, 310 

Papaver alpinus, 179, 180, 219, 323 

Parkinson, on Columbines, 60, 61, 63; 
on the Sea Daffodil, 270; on the 
scent of flowers, 261; on the Man- 
drake, 249, 250; on the Ornitho- 
galum Arabicum, 270 

Peake, Mr. C. M. A., "A Concise 
Handbook of Garden Annual and 
Biennial Plants" noticed, 166, 167 

Pearls of Spain, name, 23 

Pentstemon, 99, 107, 108; barba- 
tus, 309; glaber alpinus, 323; 
Torreyi, 309 

Perennials, hardy, fifty best varie- 



INDEX 



335 



ties, 304-314; raising from seed, 
plants suitable for, 106-109, 277- 
279; plants difiBcult to raise from 
seed, 279-282; suitable soil for, 34 

Petrocallis, 54. 

Phacelia campanularia, 169 

Pheasant's Eye, 33, 250 

Phlox, for banks, 11; in borders, 29; 
time for planting, 29; raising from 
seed, 280; in heavy soil, 31, 32; 
amoena, 77; Coquelicot, 310; 
decussata, 99; divaricata, 77; 
Drummondii, 172; Nelsoni, 11, 
76, 324; ovata, 77; subulata, 76; 
trailing, 76; vivid, 11, 76, 324; 
Phyteuma comosum, 50; G. F. 
Wilson, 76 

Pillar Roses, 243. 244 

Pinks, 29, 176, 219, 244; in herba- 
ceous border, 190; as rock plants, 
319; Albino, 310; mountain, 292; 
varieties, see under Dianthus 

Plantain Lilies, 259 

Planting, autumn, 29-31 

Plants, adaptability, degrees of, 115; 
associations, 246-263; cutting 
back, 158-163; division, 120-123, 
156-158; half-hardy, 171, 172; 
removal of, 121-123; reproduc- 
tion, 158; root characteristics, 30, 
120, 121; surface-rooting, bene- 
fits of manure, 118, 119; seed, 
cheapness of raising from, 106; 
southern, suitability for banks, 11 

Platycodon, 259; grandiflorum, 308; 
Mariesii, 308 

Plumbago Larpentse, 178 

Polemonium confertum, 54, 320; 
confertum mellitum, 177, 216; 
mellitum, 320; reptans, 308 

Polyanthuses, 32, 123, 156 

Polygonum vaccinifolium, 177, 215, 
323 

Poppy, 121, 170; Oriental, 162 

Potentilla alba, 324: nepalensis, 
311; nitida, 50 



Primrose, 32, 123, 156, 250, 260 

Primula, raising from seed, 280; Al- 
pine, 54, 55; auricula, 216; aiu-i- 
cula marginata, 216; calycina, 
216; denticulata, 123, 156; gluti- 
nosa, 216; involucrata, 217; Japo- 
nica, 156, 280; marginata, 216; 
minima, 216; nivalis, 74, 321; 
pubescens, 74; pubescens alba, 
215, 321; rosea, 156, 217; Sikki- 
mensis, 156, 217; viscosa, 216 

Princess Beatrice, 310 

Publications noticed: "Beautiful 
Gardens," 102; "Art and Craft of 
Garden Making," 139, 147, 150, 
231; "A Concise Handbook of 
Annual and Biennial Plants," 166; 
"Decorative Flower Studies," 
252; "English Flower Garden," 
21, 249; "My Rock Garden," 
295, 296 

Puschkinia, 198, 199; libanotica, 79 

Ramondia Ptrenaica, 216, 322 

Ranunculus, as rock plant, 324; 
acris, 15; amplexicaulis, 324; 
Asiaticus, 272 

Rhododendron, 27, 120, 244; cut- 
ting back, 160; chamaecistus, 54 

Robinson's "English Flower Gar- 
den," 21, 249 

Rock gardens, condition in April, 
70-80; aspect, 212; autumn con- 
dition, 174-182; annuals sug- 
gested, 181, 182; bedding out 
suggested, 179; in garden design, 
155; north side, suitable plants, 
213-218; south side, suitable 
plants, 219; plants that require 
shelter from wind, 213 

Rock plants, fifty best varieties, 315- 
326; autumn, 175-182, 323 

Rockspray, name, 22 

Rosa alpina, 322 

Rosaruby, name, 23 

Rose-bay, 312 



336 



INDEX 



Rose of Sharon, 32 

Rosemary, 13, 175, 187, 188, 197 

Roseries, 243 

Roses, artistic associations, 251, 252; 
beauty of, 289; names, 23, 24; 
planting time, 29, 30; pruning, 
160-162; for rock garden, 322; 
soils, suitability of heavy, 33; har- 
monizing surroundings, 171, 172 

Rubble, mortar, use, 27, 28 

Sand House-Leek, 21 

Santolina, 196, 197; incana, 13, 175 

Saponaria, 170, 171; for banks, 9, 
10; ocymoides, 9, 219, 317; ocy- 
moides alba, 218 

Saxifraga Afghanica, 303; Aizoon, 
296-298; apiculata, 54, 176, 217. 
299; atro-purpurea, 301; Ber- 
genia, 302; Boydii, 54, 300; bril- 
liant flowered, 302; burseriana, 
54, 217, 299, 318; caesia, 54, 293, 
300; Camposii, 217, 301; ciliata, 
303; cochlearis, 298; cordifolia, 
302; cotyledon, 297, 298, 318; 
crassifolia, 302; decipiens, 301; 
Elizabethae, 300; Fortune!, 302; 
Gloria, 299; granulata, 301, 302; 
Griesbachii, 54, 300; Guildford 
Seedling, 301; hypnoides, 300; 
Kabschia, 299, 300; Lantoscana, 
297; Lasiophylla, 313; ligulata, 
297, 303; longifolia, 50, 214, 297, 
298; McNabiana, 298; megasea, 
302; mossy, 176, 300-302; mus- 
coides, 301; oppositifolia, 217, 
302; pedemontana, 301; peltata, 
293; pyramidalis, 50, 214, 298; 
Rhei, 301; rotundifolia, 313; Salo- 
monii, 300; sancta, 217; squar- 
rosa, 54, 293, 300; Stracheyi, 303; 
tenella, 217, 302; valdensis, 214, 
298; Wallacei, 217, 301 

Saxifrages, culture, 293-303; confu- 
sion in names of, 295, 296, 303; 
as rock plants, 214, 217, 318; ro- 



sette, 296; wild character of, 294, 
295 

Scabiosa caucasica, 311 

Scent of flowers, 260-262 

Schizostylis coccinea, 267 

Scilla bifolia, 198, 199; sibirica, 72, 
79, 198, 199 

Sedum, name, 20; album, x2, 43, 
198, 199; Ewersii, 177; glaucum, 
75; Sieboldii, 177 

Semper vivum arachnoideum, 325; 
arenarium, 21; laggeri, 325 

Shrubberies, arrangement, 242-244 

Shrubs, suitability for banks, 12; 
clipping, 142, 143; cutting back, 
159-162; in herbaceous border, 
186-189; for rock garden, 175; 
soil, heavy, 33; advantage of leaf- 
mould, 120 

Shrubs, flowering, their right use, 
237-245; varieties, 238-240 

Sidalcea, 123; Candida, 313; Lis- 
ten, 313 

Silene, 170, 171; for banks, 9, 10; 
acaulis, 54, 214 ; alpestris, 43, 214, 
318, 319; Elizabethae, 50; mari- 
tima, 97; maritima flore pleno, 9; 
Schafta, 177, 219 

Slopes, see Banks 

Slugs, how to deal with, 34, 35 

Snails, how to deal with, 34, 35 

Snapdragon, 107, 108; name, 20 

Snowdrop, planting, 31 

Snowflake, 182 

Soil, heavy, 25-35 

Soldanellas, 217 

Solomon's seal, 32 

Southernwood, 187, 196 

Spiderwort, 32, 311 

Spiraea, 4, 32, 244; aruncus, 311 

Squills, 70; planting, 12, 31 

Statice latifolia, 312 

Sternbergia lutea, 182, 199 

St. John's Wort, 313 

Stonecrop, for banks, 12; name, 20 

Summer houses, 152, 153 



INDEX 



337 



Sun roses, 10 
Sweet Sultan, 170 
Syringa, 243 

Tanacetum Achillea, for banks, 
10; Argenteum, 10, 176, 325 

Tender and True, name, 24 

Thalietrum aquilegifolium, 311 

Thrift, 10, 308 

Thyme, suitability for banks, 10 

Thymus lanuginosus, 10; serpyl- 
lum, 10, 176, 219 

Tiarella cordifoUa, 22, 313 

Tiger flower, culture, 269; name, 21 

Tiger Lily, 32, 198 

Tigridias, culture, 269 

Towns, English treatment of open 
spaces, 203, 207 

Tradescantia virginica, 311 

Trees, clipping, 142, 143; apple, 245; 
Judas, 245 

Tritonia, 271 

TroUius, 32; asiaticus, 312 

Tufted pansy, 99, 218, 310 

Tulipa Batalinii, 75; biflora, 75; 
Kaufmanniana, 70, 74; linifolia, 
75; lownei, 75; silvestris, 79; pul- 
chella, 75 

Tulips, 248; early April, 70, 71; 
best arrangement, 193-196; for 
banks, 12; in borders, 28; in the 
grass, 79; planting, 31; Cottage 
Maid. Ill; Picotee. Ill 



Umbrella Plant, 293 

Verbena, 172 

Veronica amethystina, 310; pecti- 
nata, 10, 176, 219; prostrata, 219, 
324; repens, 176, 219; teucrium, 
10 

Vetch, for banks, 10 

Villas, suburban. Englishman's dis- 
like of, 230 

Viola, 99; cutting back, 159; as 
rock plant, 324; Florizel, 310; 
gracilis, 324 

Violet, 32 

Violettas, 218 

Virgin's Bower, name, 22 

Wahlenbergias, 50; hederacea, 56 

Waldstenia fragarioides, 218; trifo- 
liata, 218 

WaUflowers, culture, 77, 78, 196; 
name, 19 

Wistaria, name, 17 

Wright, Mr. W. P., "Beautiful Gar- 
dens," noticed, 102-104 

Yucca Filamentosa, 311; gloriosa, 
311 

Zauschnerl\ Californica, 178 
Zephyranthes Atamasco, 269; Can- 
dida, 268 




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